Call Him Mine
by YouCompleteMe
Summary: Troyella! She never got her hopes up. So naturally it was right for her to expect nothing different from East High... right? Wrong. She was soooo wrong.
1. The Same Old Routine

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.**

Chapter 1

18 year-old Gabriella Montez walked up to the two story house that she would be living in... for now. She never considered any house she moved into home sweet home. She considered them as temporary living arrangements.

Looking up at the sunny blue Albuquerque sky she sighed._ 'At least the weathers nice.'_ she thought.

Then turning her attention to the house _'And the house looks nice.'_ Looking up again she noticed that the sky had turned gray and the sun was no longer shining but hiding behind a cloud.

Gabriella sighed for the millionth time that day and went over to her mom to help her take the boxes out of the moving van.

Ever since her mother, Marianna Montez and her father Jonathan Rivera divorced four years ago, Gabriella's life has been turned upside down and since then she has had no control over her life. She wanted her mom to be happy so she just followed her mother's rules and did whatever Marianna wanted. Whatever she did, she did for her mom.

Gabriella came to the conclusion that if her mother was happy she would be happy as well, but that theory never proved to be true. She was still miserable where ever they went.

"Hey, so what do you want me to do?" Gabriella asked once she reached her mom. Marianna looked up once she heard her daughter's voice and gave her a small smile.

"Well, I guess you can pick a room in the house and start unpacking your stuff if you want." she replied.

"Yeah… okay." She could tell her mom was tired and just wanted to unpack as quickly as possible. Gabriella always had the feeling that her mom never got over the divorce.

To Gabriella it seemed that her parent's marriage was perfect but when in truth it was actually falling apart.

When she found out that she would be moving because of her mom's company she wouldn't talk to her mom for weeks and even hated her and her father at one point. But after a long time she got over it, or she thought she did.

Gabriella decided that it was better to move on than hang on to something she knew, she would never be able to have again. In every city Gabriella moved to she always managed to make at least one friend, but didn't bother to really get to know them because she knew she would just end up leaving and moving.

She realized this after the fifth time her mom and her moved, she hated the pain of having to say goodbye to people that she grew to care about. From then on she decided to keep her distance from people she would meet to prevent herself from feeling that pain again.

After the tenth city Gabriella gave up trying to make her life the same as it was before her parents divorce. There was no point in trying to get her old life back, her life right now was already bad and she seriously doubted it could get any worse.

Now here she was four years later and still doing the same thing: keeping her distance away from people so she didn't have to face anymore pain, constantly moving to a different city adding to the growing list of cities she has moved too over the past years and of course doing what she did best; keeping her mouth shut.

Gabriella sighed and shook her head trying to forget the painful memories. She grabbed one of the boxes with her name on it and made her way to the front door.

Looking at the sky once more, the sun was now fully gone replaced with even darker gray clouds.

_

* * *

_

Gabriella looked around the room she chose, it was big but not too big. For the next few hours, she spent cleaning, unpacking and arranging her room just the way she liked it and before she knew it, it was starting to get dark and the day was ending. She suddenly felt very hungry and went downstairs to see what her mother was preparing for dinner.

"Hungry?" her mom asked.

"Very."

"Well, dinner is almost finished so I don't need any help with that… instead can you set up the dining table?" she asked nicely.

"No problem," Gabriella replied, getting out of her seat to one of the cupboards.

"Finish packing yet?" her mom asked, going back to her cooking, trying to start a conversation.

"Almost, but I still have to unpack most of my clothes."

"Your going to be up all night unpacking ALL those clothes you have," she said laughing just thinking about the amount of clothes her teenage daughter had.

"True." Gabriella said, laughing along with her mom. Looking away Gabriella smiled, even though she hated her mom for always being so busy at work the small moments that would happen between her and her mom was what made everything they've been through worth it sometimes. When Gabriella finished setting the table, they both sat down for dinner and continued to carry a pleasant conversation while they ate.

"There's nothing else to do but unpack, I already called the phone and electricity company and everything is set up," her mother said.

Gabriella nodded at what she said and continued eating, there was a slight pause and both said nothing for a while. Gabriella knew it was time for her to ask the question that she hated the most about moving.

"So… what school am I going to?" she asked. Before her mother could answer, the phone rang and she stood up to get it.

"Hello?" she asked, there was a pause before she continued talking. Gabriella saw her mothers tense face and knew who the caller was.

"I'm fine thank you and how are you? That's good… Yes, we just got here today…. We're fine so far… oh sure of course you can talk to her…. nice talking to you too, bye." her mother replied politely. "It's for you." her mom said.

She handed the phone to Gabriella, she already knew who it was because of the tone in her mother's voice which she would use whenever she spoke to this certain someone on the phone. The look on her face also gave it away. It was her father.

Gabriella hated the way her mom would talk to him, it was like they never knew each other. They talked to each other like complete strangers, almost if their marriage had never happened.

"Hey, dad!" she said trying to sound happy "Gabby! How's my girl?" he replied, not noticing how forced her greeting was.

"Same old, same old, you?"

"Never been better."

There was a slight pause.

Even though she barely got to see her dad, he would call her once a week to talk and catch up. She appreciated the gesture but it still wasn't the same and he knew it too.

It hurt Gabriella even more when he would talk about his new family, she wasn't mad at him for moving on, but she still couldn't help but feel jealous of his new and better life. She wished her and her mom could experience the same happiness he had.

"So… any boys chasing after my baby girl yet?" he asked joking. "Nope… not yet anyways." she replied, joking along with him.

"There better not be any… or else, I don't want to have to beat down your boyfriend and Katie's boyfriend," he said laughing, still going on with the joke.

Gabriella stopped smiling once she heard Katie's name, Katie was her dad's other "daughter", his step-daughter actually.

The way he would talk about her made it sound like Katie was his real daughter and Gabriella was his step-daughter instead. It hurt her even more when he would talk about how much of a great kid she was, how talented she was and what good morals she had. She was jealous but she hated to admit it.

"Hello? Gabby? Gabriella? You still there? Hello?" She had become silent for a while but managed to find her voice.

"Uhmm, yeah I'm still here," she replied. "For a second I thought you hung up on me," he said laughing.

"Yeah, I just spaced out for a second… " she trailed off.

* * *

She sighed once the phone call was over; Gabriella wondered why he even bothered to call her when there was nothing new to tell him. All she wanted to do was go to bed and sleep before she had to go to school the next day.

Gabriella got up from the coach she was sitting on and found her mom in the kitchen sitting at the head of the dining table with a bunch of papers laying on top of the table. She made her way over to the table and sat down across from her.

"So… what school am I going to?" she asked for the second time. Her mom looked up from the sheet of paper she was reading.

"East High."


	2. Let's Just Get This Over With

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.**

Chapter 2

Gabriella woke up to the sound of her alarm clock blaring and the sun hitting her face, she groaned and rolled over to the side of her bed blindly reaching to her bedside table to turn off the alarm.

Once she managed to stop the annoying sound she opened her eyes and leaned back on her bed. Today was her first day at East High, she groaned again at that thought of starting a new school.

Gabriella was use to it by now; move to a new place, go a new school, make a few friends, then move again after a few months.

She wasn't expecting much, it was the same thing over and over again. Even though she was use to it, it didn't mean she enjoyed it.

_'Just another school... I get to deal with popular kids who are just full of them selves and think they are the greatest thing to ever walk the planet. Just great… I love meeting obnoxious people,'_ she thought sarcastically.

Gabriella got out of bed and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

When she was finished she had on her favourite pair of skinny jeans, a cute baby doll top and her brand new flats that she just bought.

She went over to her mirror vanity and decided to tie her on the side in a low ponytail, leaving her hair natural wavy.

She applied some mascara and a little bit of eyeliner to make her eyes stand out even more and some of her favourite strawberry-kiwi clear lip gloss.

Happy with the way she looked she grabbed her messenger bag on her desk and put in her wallet, her makeup and some school supplies.

Giving herself one more look in the mirror, she made her way downstairs.

"Mom!" she called out.

_'Where is she?'_

"Mom?" she called again.

When there was no reply, she made her way to the kitchen.

Gabriella sighed when she reached the kitchen and saw a note on the fridge; walking up to the fridge she already knew what the note said before she could even read it.

Gabriella,

You know I'm sorry that I can't be there with you on your first day of school but I know you can manage on your own, you know how busy it gets at work. The directions to school are on the note, don't worry its not too far from home and is in walking distance. I'm sorry again for not being there. Have a great first day and I'll see you tonight, there is some money for you on the table for lunch.

Love, Mom.

"Whatever." she mumbled and opened the fridge to find something to eat for breakfast.

* * *

Gabriella turned into a street and looked straight ahead to see the nicest school she has ever seen. She had been to many schools but this one looked…

_'Wow.'_ she thought.

As she walked closer and closer to the school she immediately saw the red and white school colours._ 'Geez talk about school spirit.'_

When she reached the school she immediately saw the different cliques._ 'Great, just what I need...'_ Sure the schools she went to before had cliques but this was ….extreme.

It was like talking to someone else in a different clique was illegal, and was against the rules. She thought it was bullshit.

Though, she wouldn't complain because she was not in any position tell people what she thought, after all she was the new girl.

Besides there was no point, she would just end up moving and she doubted that people would listen to her anyway, the whole school would probably plot against her.

Even though she moved around the country and was use to meeting different types of people, she was still shy when it came to her first days at a new school.

Walking closer to the front door of the school Gabriella wasn't aware of the looks and glances she was receiving from classmates in every group, all wondering which clique the new girl would fit into at East High.

All of sudden she heard shouting and turned her attention to where the noise was coming from along with the rest of the student body.

Looking back at the commotion behind her she saw a bunch of people crowding around a group of people.

* * *

Troy Bolton stepped out his car and made his way out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of the water fountain where the cheerleaders and jocks hanged out. The minute he reached school he was surrounded by cheerleaders all trying to get his attention, but he ignored them as he continued to make his way over to his group of friends.

"Troy!" a voice called.

Troy looked in the direction of where the voice called him, already knowing who it was.

"Hey, Chad." he replied.

He also received 'heys' from Jason and Zeke as well, even though he had lots of friends, Chad, Jason and Zeke were the only people he mostly hanged out with.

"So, what did you do this weekend?" Zeke asked Troy.

"Oh you know, the usual, basketball and… more basketball," he replied, what Troy didn't tell them was how hard his dad made him practice but Troy never complained to his father. He would avoid confrontations with his father because it just added more stress to his already stressful life. He didn't need anymore shit to deal with.

"I see you're trying to avoid the subject, so it must have gone well." Jason said adding himself into the conversation.

"Avoiding what?" Troy asked, confused.

All three boys looked at him shocked, their jaws hanging open. They were about to answer Troy when they were interrupted by a voice.

"You know… you guys look like idiots with your mouths open like that." said the all too familiar voice.

All four boys turned around to see none other than Taylor Mckessie, resident geek and Sharpay Evans, East High's drama freak.

"Oh wait, never mind you ARE idiots" Sharpay said backing up Taylor.

"Well if it isn't the geek and the drama freak," said Chad.

"Hey, that rhymed." he thought.

Taylor and Sharpay both rolled their eyes, the guys shaking their heads at him.

"Can he get anymore stupider?" said Sharpay.

"You forgot to say that part in your head, dumbass." Taylor snorted.

"What did you just… " said Chad.

"You heard her, she said you were a du… " started Sharpay but was interrupted by Troy.

"Well, at least he's not a bitch like you," he said.

Sharpay was shocked that Troy called her a bitch right in front of everyone but didn't show it on her face.

It had gone quiet now, a small group of students had surrounded the two groups.

The whole school knew that the four boys had the biggest problem with Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi, but only because she was friends with them.

The students at East High knew not to interfere when they were fighting. People never knew why they hated each other so much, they just did.

It was just the way it is, the geeks and the drama kids didn't like the jocks and the cheerleaders.

"You shouldn't have said that Troy, you don't want to get the ice princess mad now, would you?" Jason snickered.

Neither Sharpay nor Taylor replied.

"Drama queen has nothing to say for once?" Troy said, smirking.

The only person who stayed quiet was Zeke; he never really liked to get into fights with people and always tried to back away when ever his friends would start something, especially with Taylor, Sharpay and Ryan.

By now more students had gathered around the group watching intently on what would happen.

There were no other cliques in school who fought just as much as these two groups.

Everyone at school knew that they were the biggest rivals against each other. Troy and his friends hated Taylor and Sharpay's clique so much that both groups would lose their tempers quickly whenever they would fight.

"Oh, no you didn't… Troy Bolton you do not know who your messing with." Sharpay viciously whispered, giving Troy one of her famous glares.

"Huh? What? What did you say? We didn't hear your loud annoying voice answer with a comeback; is someone for once… speechless?" said Chad.

The guys were smirking behind him at her sudden quietness.

Then Sharpay started laughing; Taylor winced when she heard Sharpay laugh. Her face was expressionless and her laugh cold and full of hatred.

"Now you've done it." replied Taylor.

In one split second Sharpay's emotionless face turned into an angry face; she lost her cool.

"Speechless?!" she shrieked, her eyes flashing with anger.

The guys had fear in their eyes when they heard her scream, but quickly covered up so no one would notice.

"I'll have you know that if you ever mess with me, you better watch out! Because you have now idea how badly I can fuc-" screamed Sharpay.

"Sharpay your all talk, but you cant do shit to us." said Chad, interrupting Sharpay's screaming fit.

"And you think you can do anything to us?" said Taylor.

"If you weren't girls we would have beaten crap out of you already." replied Troy.

"That's the only reason why we can't do anything." Jason said.

"So the only reason why you haven't beaten us up yet is because were girls?!" replied Sharpay.

"That's reassuring." Taylor said, rolling her eyes before glaring at each boy.

"Well, I dunno about Ryan, but I guess you can consider him as a girl." said Chad.

The guys laughing at what he said.

Ryan Evans was also part of the drama clique and during his freshmen and sophomore year Sharpay would force him to do the musicales with her.

But during his junior year he stood up to her and no one ever stood up to her besides Taylor and occasionally Kelsi.

People believe one of the reasons why Taylor and Sharpay were best friends was because Taylor was the only girl at East High to ever stand up against Sharpay.

Ryan's still in the drama clique but hasn't stared in a musical production in over a year because he chose to focus on writing his own music.

He didn't totally give up on acting but just changed the outfits in his closet so now his wardrobe had no item of clothing that consisted of glitter or pink.

Even though he changed the way he dressed and his boy diva attitude, his reputation was still being made fun of even though he was different now. The only reason why he acted like that was because Sharpay forced him and he was too scared to stand up to her.

"Are you implying that my brother is gay!?" replied Sharpay.

"That's really low, he has nothing to do with this… I guess you couldn't think of anything smart to say so you had to attack her brother instead." said Taylor, who was getting angrier because they insulted one of her best friends who they knew nothing about but still continued to mock and make fun of. That was the last straw for her.

"What the-" Taylor started.

"Oh shut up, you know it's true!" Chad said getting annoyed of this fight.

"No it's not and you know it, he's not like that anymore… get it through your thick skull! I've repeated it over and over again that he is not-" screamed Sharpay

"Gay?! Ha! Whatever, but can you please stop shouting! You and your ugly voice is really-" said Jason.

"Pissing us off, so can you get out of our faces!" yelled Troy having enough of this argument, he just wanted them to go away.

"Wow, you guys finished off each others sentences that must be an accomplishment for all of you, bet you had that all planned out." replied Taylor, smirking.

The guys giving her hateful glares.

"Oh don't worry, it's something you should be proud of." said Sharpay, smirking along with Taylor.

"Go Team!" said Taylor.

The guys just gave them more hateful glares, not replying to what they said because they were too upset to answer back.

"Speechless?" Sharpay asked, her eyes glaring at Chad.

"They're probably thinking about what to say, but as you can see their to slow to think of anything," replied Taylor.

"Making what you said earlier true, their just too slow… or maybe they just don't have the vocabulary to answer back," Sharpay said looking at each one of them in the eye.

"Face it, jocks are just stupid." said Taylor her voice full of hatred.

After Taylor said that, it started another screaming fit but this time you couldn't understand what each person was saying because everyone just started yelling at each other at the same time.

Zeke even joined in this time, the comment about jocks being stupid was offending to him because he was actually smart. He had one of the top grades in his senior year class and was mad that they thought all jocks were stupid.

The yelling was so loud people who weren't even in the crowd that surround the group could hear them yelling.

"SHUT UP!" said two voices behind them, the group turned around to see none other than Ryan and Kelsi, the rest of Taylor and Sharpay's group of close friends.

"And what are you gonna do if we don't?" asked Chad.

"Make us sing and dance?" said Jason laughing apparently he was the only one who found it funny but stopped when he realized he was the only one laughing.

"Nice come back, Cross." said Ryan, rolling his eyes making fun of his stupid remark.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ryan Evans… I see you not wearing your famous sparkly pink shirt, why not? You know it suits you." Troy smirked.

"Ha ha, and you say I'm gay when you're the one giving me fashion tips." replied Ryan.

Before Troy could answer back, Kelsi interrupted.

"Can you guys fight somewhere else besides the front of the school… where there are teachers." she said, pointing out the obvious.

Kelsi was like Zeke she didn't really want to get into it when their groups would start fighting with each other, which was frequently.

Before they could answer her, as if right on queue two teachers approached the crowd making their way through the students demanding what was going on.

Troy groaned when he realized that one of the teachers was his father, Coach Bolton and the other teacher was the over-dramatic, Mrs. Darbus.

"What is going on here?!" she demanded once she reached both groups.

Mrs. Darbus wasn't surprised to see the same group of young people; they were always the same ones who caused the commotion.

"I thought you guys promised that you wouldn't fight with each other anymore," said Coach Bolton, glancing at both groups and giving Troy a stern look.

"Well it's not our fault, they started it, they said jocks were stupid; we couldn't just stand here while they insulted us." replied Chad defending him and his friends.

"Well it's true." Taylor muttered quietly but loud enough for Chad to hear.

"See! See what I mean, THEY started it!" yelled Chad, whining like a little kid pointing an accusing finger at Taylor.

"Enough! You all are seniors now and you should be setting an example to your younger classmates! You should know very well that we do not tolerate this kind of behaviour at East High, if you cannot stand each other than I suggest that you keep out of each others way!" replied Mrs. Darbus, sighing dramatically.

"The next time this happens again there might be consequences," warned Coach Bolton.

The school bell rang signifying the start of classes and school.

"Now off to class." he said.

With that the crowd broke off and students headed to their homeroom classes. The groups also went their separate ways but without giving each other final glares.

Even though both cliques had Mrs. Darbus for home room they went different ways to avoid each other as much as possible.

"Troy!" called Coach Bolton.

Troy turned around when he heard his name and left the guys to go up to his father.

"Meet me at my office after you put your books away." his dad said.

"Just another day at East High." muttered Coach Bolton and left in the direction of his office.

* * *

Gabriella watched as the crowd started to break away and students left in the direction of their homerooms. She had been watching the crowd that had surrounded the two groups from afar and noticed how loud they sounded.

_'They're probably fighting.'_

Gabriella sighed and went into the school, making her way to the direction of where she thought the principal's office was. She had to stop by to get her timetable and map of the school.

Noticing she was wasting time by just walking around she found the courage to ask a group of students who were walking towards her quickly hurrying to get to class.

"Hi, uhmm I'm new here and I was wondering if you… " she started.

But didn't get to finish her question because they completely ignored her and walked past her not giving her a second glance.

" …Know where the office is?" her voice trailed off.

After wondering around the schools hallways for a while she finally found the main office.

"Thank God," she mumbled.

As she was about to open the door, someone else did from the other side causing her to let out a small scream and falling on her butt. She looked down on the floor cursing under breath for looking like an idiot.

Expecting the person that was standing above her to laugh at her stupid moment she continued to look down on the floor in embarrassment.

Except she didn't hear a laugh, instead she saw a hand stretched down to help her up and she took it.

Standing up she still hadn't looked up to see the person who helped her.

Finally having the courage and getting over her embarrassing moment she looked up to see the person that helped her but they were no longer in front of her, looking down the hallway she saw a boy walking away.

"Thanks." she mumbled, even though she was sure he didn't hear her anyway._ 'What a great start to the day.'_

Gabriella opened the office door once more, hoping the same thing wouldn't happen again, when it didn't she sighed of relief. Entering the room she made her way to the secretary's desk.

"Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez and I'm a new student here, I'm suppose to be meet the principal, Mr. Matsui?" she asked in her nicest voice.

"Oh yes, we've been expecting you, just go in that room over there, Mr. Matsui is already inside." said the secretary politely, pointing at the nearest door.

"Thank you." Gabriella replied. Making her way to the room she knocked on the door, a voice inside told her to come in, she opened the door closing in quietly as she came in.

"Ahhh, you must be Gabriella Montez." The man said in front of her, stretching out his hand for her to shake.

_15 Minutes later..._

"Welcome to East High!" he said happily.

Gabriella just smiled politely and left the room.

Once out in the deserted hallway she looked at her map to find where her first class was for the day. Finding her homeroom on the map she headed in that direction.

As she neared the door that said Mr. Darbus English Department, she heard a woman's voice talking and assumed that was the teacher teaching the class the lesson for today.

Putting her hand on the doorknob, she took a deep breath but she still couldn't help but feel nervous, even her sarcasm couldn't calm her nerves. Gripping the doorknob she turned it slightly and opened the door, walking into the class.


	3. Welcome To East High

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.**

Chapter 3

While Gabriella was trying to find her way to the main office, Troy Bolton was already at the office to meet his dad. His father's office use to be in the locker room but they decided to use it for more space, so Coach Bolton moved into an extra room in the main office instead. Troy hated that every time he had to talk to his dad and he had to come here.

Knocking on the door he waited for his dad to tell him to come inside. Troy already had a feeling of what his father was about to say, just by the tone of his voice.

"Troy, sit down." he said motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

"I called you down here because of this morning…" he continued but was interrupted by his son.

"Yeah, dad. I know, it was immature and childish and I think the guys agree with me when I say we're sorry for our bad behaviour," said Troy, trying not to roll his eyes.

"That's good to know, because as you know your actions in this school reflect on me…"

Coach Bolton wanted Troy to "set" an example, but it was only because he didn't want to look like a bad parent.

Troy sighed when he heard the words beginning the speech that he was all too familiar with.

'…_As your parent, your behaviour has to be proper...' _ Troy thought saying the words along with his dad in his head. '_BLAH, BLAH, BLAH__ whatever...'_

While his dad continued with his "proper behaviour" lecture, Troy just tuned him out not listening anymore.

Once he realized that his dad was finished talking Troy got out of his chair.

"Can I leave now?" he asked.

"Yeah… just don't do something like this again, understand?" his dad replied sternly.

"Yes, sir." Troy replied coldly, leaving his dad's office.

He smiled politely at the secretary as he made his way to the door. Reaching for the doorknob and opening the door he didn't know there was another person on the other side. Hearing someone let out a small scream, he quickly looked down and noticed a girl on the floor. 

Troy didn't get to see her face because she was looking down but he could see she was blushing lightly out of embarrassment. He reached out his hand to help her and she accepted it.

Before the girl could look up Troy already started to head to his homeroom class with Mrs. Darbus, as he was walking away Troy heard the girl mumble "thanks". Troy turned around to try and catch a glimpse of the girl again but she had her back on him and was opening the door he just came out of, since he couldn't see her face he glanced at her body instead.

'_Not bad.' _he thought, smirking as he made his way to homeroom. Reaching the room he went inside, getting glances from everyone in class.

"Mr. Bolton, so nice of you to join us." said Mrs. Darbus.

Troy just gave her one of his charming smiles and made his way to his desk ignoring glares from Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and even Kelsi.

Troy just smirked which made all four of them glare even harder. They hated how he could get away with anything just because he was the school's basketball superstar.

Troy knew that it pissed them off.

Catching the attention of Chad, Jason and Zeke he motioned his head to Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi who were now giving all four guys glares. Noticing this Chad, Jason and Zeke smirked along with Troy, finding it funny that they were not over this morning's fight and how Troy didn't get in trouble for being late to class.

They were all about to glare back but were interrupted by a small voice at the front of the class. Troy turned around to face the front only to see the girl he helped this morning. Only this time... he saw her face.

* * *

'_Here goes nothing...'_

Gabriella sighed softly as she stepped inside the class room, she knew she was about to face the whole class because she was already late.

As she stepped inside she cleared her throat to get the attention of the teacher, who turned around.

"Hi…ummm…" Gabriella said to the teacher.

"You must be Gabriella Montez, I've been expecting you." the teacher replied nicely.

Gabriella smiled weakly to the teacher aware that the class was staring at her and that people were whispering.

"Well, let me introduce myself, I'm Mrs. Darbus. Your English teacher this year." she said.

"Class, can I have your attention please." said Mrs. Darbus unaware that the whole class was already staring at the new girl.

"We have a new student today, this is Gabriella Montez." she announced in front of the classroom.

"Hey…" Gabriella trailed off, giving a small wave to the class. Looking shyly at the ground and looking back to Mrs. Darbus, anywhere but her classmates. '_Why does everyone have to stare?'_

Gabriella stood uncomfortably in front of the class for a second before Mrs. Darbus finally told her what to do.

"Well, you can grab an empty desk and I'll give you the materials you need after I finish my lesson." she said.

Gabriella nodded her head and made her way over to an empty seat at the back of the class, fully aware of the stares and glances following her.

She started to blush slightly. Once she reached her desk she slid down in her seat and looked down on her desk pretending to intently study the schools map, trying to ignore the glances and whispers her classmates were giving her.

'_This is going to be a long first day.'_

* * *

Troy turned around when he heard the small voice and saw it was the girl that fell when he opened the door.

'_Wow,__ she__'s really pretty.'_

Troy saw Chad talking to Jason and Zeke. '_Probably about the new girl.'_

He turned around to face him and the guys.

"Daamn…" Chad whispered.

"She's cute." Zeke whispered back.

"Dude… more like hot." added Jason.

Troy smiled slightly, nodding his head agreeing with the guys. He looked at the front of the class again to hear Mrs. Darbus introduce the girl.

"We have a new student today, this is Gabriella Montez." she announced.

Troy turned back to his friends who were still talking and whispering about the new girl.

"I wonder what group she'll be in?" asked Chad.

"Hmmm… I'm not sure, she doesn't look like anyone of the girls here at school, that's for sure… but in a good way." Zeke replied.

"In a really good way… whatever man, she's hot." Jason said smiling.

"What do you think Troy?" Zeke asked.

Troy had stayed quiet the whole time his friends were talking, he was about to answer but saw the girl walking down the aisle towards her desk. He couldn't help but look at her face, her cheeks were slightly pink and she was looking straight a head.

"Daaamnnn…." three voices whispered together as the new girl walked them.

Troy chuckled softly when he heard his friends. His eyes followed her until she sat down in her seat.

He continued to listen to his friend's conversation but still looking at the new girl, he noticed that she was shyly looking down. Troy smiled at the sight. He thought her shyness was cute.

"What's her name again?" asked Chad.

"Daniella?" replied Jason.

"Gabrielle?" guessed Chad.

By now Troy had turned around to answer Chad's question.

"Her name is Gabriella." both Troy and Zeke said at the same time.

They both hated how people didn't bother to learn people's names; it just seemed inconsiderate and rude.

"Mrs. Darbus just said her name like five minutes ago." said Zeke, rolling his eyes at both of his friend's lack of memory but he thought they did that on purpose so it wouldn't look like they paid TOO much attention on the new girl.

"It's not _that_ hard to remember." said Troy, backing up Zeke.

Before Chad and Jason could answer all four boys heard a voice calling their names at the front of the class, they all turned to face the class and saw Mrs. Darbus staring at them.

"Mr. Bolton, Mr. Danforth, Mr. Cross and Mr. Baylor, would you like to have your little conversation during detention?" she scolded.

All four boys shook their heads no.

"Good, then can you have your conversation once my class is over." she said.

"Yes, Mrs Darbus." all four replied.

Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi smirked at the four jocks, while they glared back at the geek and drama losers.

* * *

While the jocks and other cliques talked about the new girl, Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi where passing notes to each other. Ryan was scribbling something in his notebook, lyrics most likely, so they didn't include him because they knew not to disturb him when he was working hard on his music. Ryan was scribbling profusely and as fast as his hand could write on his notebook.

_'God, I hate the way they act, they think they can get away with anything' -S_

_'I know, stupid jocks… think they rule the school' - T_

_'Guys, can we just please forget about this morning… so what do you guys think of the new girl?' -K_

_'Well, I love her messenger bag, it's so cute, her flats are adorable too' -S_

_'LOL, Only Sharpay would mention her clothing' -K_

_'I'll take that as a compliment' -S_

_'She looks like a nice girl, I wonder what group she'll fit into?' -T_

_'Same, hmmmm…. I couldn't really tell what group she would belong too, she looks shy and quiet' -S_

_'Hey! There's nothing wrong with being shy, besides it's her first day, she's probably nervous maybe that's why she's quiet' -K_

_'Yeah… you gotta point, but she doesn't look like every girl here at East High' -T_

_'Anyway, I think Ryan has a little crush on her ;) lol' -S_

_'LOL, what makes you think that?' -K_

'_What?' -T_

_'He keeps glancing at her and look at his "love-stricken" face :P' -S_

All three girls turn to look at Ryan

_'LMAO, your right!' -T_

_'Awh, that's cute.' -K_

_'Anyways lets talk later, I think Mrs. Darbus is on to us' -T_

_'Okay, ttyl. XO' -S_

Before Kelsi could get the note Mrs. Darbus interrupted and stopped her lesson.

'_Oh no__ busted' _Kelsi thought.

Looking around the classroom Mrs. Darbus was finally able to find where the whispering was coming from, her eyes landed on the four jocks who where having a conversation.

"Mr. Bolton, Mr. Danforth, Mr. Cross and Mr. Baylor…" she started.

Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi and Ryan smirked at the jocks getting in trouble.

* * *

Class finally ended and the students made their way out of the room, Gabriella was the last one to leave the classroom. She already knew where her next class was because she basically spent her first class looking at her map of the school until she memorized it. So she decided to stop by the bulletin board she passed by earlier on her way to homeroom. She doubted she would join anything on her first day of school but decided to look anyway.

Making her way to the board she saw many different clubs and teams, she stopped at the scholastic decathlon team sign up sheet and the arts/drama sign up sheet which was basically theatre, drama, music and art.

Gabriella use to be on the scholastic decathlon team in some of her other schools and was one of the best is every school she went to. She also adored theatre and music.

While Gabriella was looking at the board Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi were walking down the hallway.

"Thanks God that class is over." sighed Sharpay.

"Yeah, Mrs. Darbus was getting a little annoying." said Ryan.

"Just a little?! Try extremely…" replied Taylor.

"Plus, the people in class didn't make it any better." said Kelsi, referring to Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke.

"Ughhh, please don't remind me." replied Sharpay, rolling her eyes.

"Hey you guys, look the new girl is looking at the scholastic decathlon and arts/drama sign up sheets." said Taylor, pointing to Gabriella.

The other three turned their heads and saw the petite girl with a look on her face that looked like it was deciding on something.

The three girls smiled and realized that they found a potential new member for their clique.

"I think we should welcome her and maybe help her decide what teams to join." Sharpay said, smiling.

"Good idea." replied Kelsi and the three girls made their way over to Gabriella with Ryan following behind slowly.


	4. Who's Troy Bolton?

**A/N: Hope you guys like it. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.**

Chapter 4

Gabriella was about to walk away from the bulletin board but stopped when she heard a voice. Gabriella turned around and saw three girls and one guy walking towards her. Noticing the boy, she had to admit he looked kinda cute.

"Hi! I'm Sharpay Evans and this is Taylor Mekessie, Kelsi Neilson and my twin brother, Ryan Evans." she said, pointing to each person.

"I'm Gabriella Montez…"

"So… how do you like East High so far?" Taylor asked, smiling. '_I hate it, everyone here acts so weird.'_

"It's been alright… so far anyway." she replied.

"That's nice… so, we couldn't help but notice that you were looking at the scholastic decathlon sign up sheet and the arts sign up sheet." said Sharpay.

"Oh… yeah, umm I just wanted to see what East High had." Gabriella replied. "Are you gonna join any clubs or teams?" asked Kelsi, speaking up.

"Uhmmm, I dunno… most likely not." she answered. Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi's faces fell when they heard her say no and Gabriella noticed. They seemed nice enough. Who knows, maybe they even wanted to be friends and she couldn't pass that up.

"Uhhh, but you never know… I might join later… maybe, but not right now… I'm still new here." she recovered quickly. Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi's faces perked up at Gabriella's answer.

"Well, which teams or groups are you interested in?" asked Taylor excitedly.

"Maybe the scholastic decathlon and arts, I use to be in both groups at my old schools…" she replied, trailing off. Taylor and Sharpay smiled wider when they heard Gabriella say this.

"Well Gabriella, you're in luck cause Taylor here is the president of the scholastic decathlon team and I'm head of the drama department." said Sharpay.

"Ryan and I are also in the arts department, but were into music more." added Kelsi. Glancing at Ryan, she saw him turn his face away quickly; she noticed his face was a little pink. '_What'__s wrong with him?... Maybe he__'s embarrassed to be around the new girl, but his sister and friends don__'t seem to mind me.'_ She looked back to the girls. '_Forget it Gabriella, it doesn't matter.'_

"Oh… okay, but I'm not joining anything…yet." she said.

"That's okay, but if you change your mind… you know who to ask." said Taylor. "Thanks." she replied, giving them a small smile.

"What classes do you have?" asked Kelsi.

"Uhmmm…. I have science, math, P.E and music." Gabriella answered. "You have at least one of us in your classes." said Kelsi, smiling.

"You have science with Ryan and Kelsi, math with Taylor, P.E. with me and music with Ryan." said Sharpay. Gabriella nodded her head._ 'At least I know people now, so I don't look like a loner.'_

"Speaking of classes I think we should get to them." said Taylor, pointing to the clock in the hallway.

"Yeah, let's go… Gabriella, we'll walk with you to science class." replied Kelsi pointing to Ryan and herself. "See you guys later." said Sharpay.

"Nice meeting you Gabriella." smiled Taylor. Gabriella gave a small smile back. '_They seem genuinely nice, this usually doesn'__t happen on my first days.'_ Ryan hadn't said anything yet so Gabriella assumed he didn't like her very much. '_But he__'s still cute.' _she thought. As everyone was walking away and making their way to class, Sharpay nudged her brother and pulled him aside.

"Why didn't you say anything to Gabriella? Usually you talk all the time… it seemed like you were a little rude." she whispered.

"Sorry, I was just…" Ryan replied, trailing off. "Nervous?" smirked Sharpay, finishing off his sentence.

"What?! Uhhh….ummm… wh- why would I be nervous? What kind of question is that?" he asked quickly, stuttering a little.

"I think we both know why…" said Sharpay her smirk getting bigger, as she walked away. Ryan stared at his sister with shocked eyes. '_How did she figure it out?' _he thought. He turned around when he heard his name being called.

"Ryan!" yelled Kelsi at the end of the hallway "I thought you were going to walk with us." she said. "Yeah, I am. Sharpay just needed to talk to me about something." he replied catching up to Gabriella and Kelsi.

"Sorry." he said, looking at Kelsi and shyly looking at Gabriella, Ryan gave her a small smile. "So… I guess we should head to class we don't want to be late." he said, quickly regretting what he said. '_I sound like a loser.' _he thought.

"Yeah, we should get going, since our class is on the other side of school." Gabriella replied, looking at Ryan and returning a small smile. Gabriella and Kelsi turned to the direction of their next class, unable to see the big grin Ryan had on his face. Ryan walked over to Gabriella's left, with Kelsi on her right and all three started walking.

'_Just talk to her!' _he took a deep breathe. "So, Gabriella…" he said trying to start a conversation, giving her a friendly smile.

* * *

Walking out of Mrs. Darbus's class Chad, Zeke and Jason surrounded Troy.

"So…?" Jason said. "So…what?" Troy replied, confused.

"Remember? This weekend?" Zeke asked. "What?" he replied, confused even more.

"Dude… you seriously don't remember?" asked Chad, surprised. "I seriously don't….wait… is this the same thing you were going to ask me this morning before we got into that fight with Taylor, Sharpay and Ryan?" asked Troy.

"Yeah!" all three guys replied. "Okay, so what is it?" Troy asking again.

"Hmmm… I dunno, maybe a little something called 'your date with one of the hottest girls in school'… remember now?" Chad answered sarcastically, as if it was the most obvious answer.

"Oh… yeah." Troy replied "…it was… okay." "That's it?" Jason asked.

"So, your saying that Kristen McCall, head cheerleader, most popular girl in school, blond, perfect body, pretty face was an… okay?!" asked Zeke.

Troy sighed. It wasn't really date, Kristen and Troy were just hanging out but his friends always thought it was more. Truthfully Kristen and Troy were just good friends but since Troy had the reputation of being the most popular boy in school and Kristen being the most poplar girl in school, naturally people assumed that they were together.

Troy and Kristen would always tell people that they were only friends but no one would believe them so they just tried to ignore. It would get pretty annoying so they would just stop denying it and let people believe what they wanted to believe.

Even though Kristen was gorgeous, popular and genuinely nice, Troy didn't like her in _that _way; Kristen felt the same way about Troy.

So basically they came to the decision that if people didn't believe them no matter what they would say they decided to just play along and maybe people would stop asking, but they were both wrong. It just made people even more curious, they could do nothing about it.

Troy groaned.

"Ugh come on you guys… I don't know, it was… what do you want me to say? That we…" he paused.

"Ummm gee, I dunno… that maybe you hooked up or something?" replied Chad. Troy didn't reply. "ANYTHING?!" yelled Zeke and Jason, causing people in the hallway to look at them weirdly.

"Yeah, she's…hot." Finding it weird calling one of his good friends hot "… but, I guess… I dunno… it didn't feel like a date, it felt like we were just hanging out." he continued.

"So, you _didn__'t _do anything?" Zeke asked again. Troy shook his head 'no', trying not to roll his eyes. "Wow… I think you're the first guy who didn't try anything with the Kristen McCall." said Chad.

"Do you always have to call her by her full name, cant you just call her Kristen? It sounds weird when you always call her by her full name." said Troy. Chad just shrugged.

"Dude! Are you crazy? I can't believe you didn't do anything! Now… heh, if that was me…" Jason said raising his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"But it wasn't." said Zeke, laughing. "You wish it was though." added Chad, Troy laughing along.

"Shut up." replied Jason. "Anyways, can we change the subject?" asked Troy.

Before he could say anything he saw Gabriella walked by, his eyes followed her until she stopped at the bulletin board. Troy was listening to his friends talk but secretly kept giving her glances, he had no idea why he eyes would always land on her. Troy turned his attention back to his friends' conversation, who were making pointless and idiotic jokes, pretending to laugh.

"Guys…look." said Chad, pointing to what ever was in front of him. All three other guys turned to where Chad was pointing and all eyes landed on the new girl, who was talking to none other than Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi and Ryan.

"Looks like we know what group the new girl belongs to now." said Zeke.

"What a loss… " said Jason. "What do you mean? I thought you said she was hot?" asked Troy.

"Well…" said Jason, trailing off trying to find the words to answer Troy's question.

"What I think he's trying to say is that… even thought Gabriella's hot, she's one of them now." replied Chad.

"Plus she's just one girl, there are plenty more ladies at our school who wouldn't mind being with me." said Jason.

"Ha… more like, the ladies wouldn't mind having us." replied Zeke, referring to himself, Chad and Troy. This caused Zeke and Chad to start laughing at a scowling Jason.

Troy gave a small smile. "Yeah… your right." he said. '_I guess.'_

He turned to look back at Gabriella and saw her walking with Kelsi and talking to Ryan, who had a big smile on. He looked at her face and saw her smiling back; he sighed and faced his friends again. '_You don__'t even know her. She__s _just_ another girl.'_

* * *

"…The pure substance… made up of 2 or more elements….smallest particle is a molecule…positive or negative charge due to loss or gain of electrons…"

Gabriella softly sighed; here she was sitting in science class listening to her teacher drone on about atoms. Looking to the window beside her, she tuned out the teacher's voice. Her morning had gone better than most of her first days at school, but she wasn't getting her hopes up.

East High was very different; she actually made acquaintances with people on her first day, at most schools students wouldn't talk to her after a week or so. Ryan and Kelsi walked with her to class and she was kind thankful she didn't have to make her way to class by herself.

Gabriella looked around the classroom and observed the students in her class. Looking at the rows of desks occupied with people, she immediately saw the cliques, every clique sat together. Most students had bored expressions on their faces, others whispering or passing notes to each other and a few students who were actually paying attention to the teacher.

Her eyes landed on Kelsi and Ryan, Kelsi was sitting beside her in a different row and Ryan was in the same row as Kelsi sitting in front of her. She smiled at how funny Kelsi looked, who was dozing off, only coming to attention every time her head would droop. Gabriella then turned her attention to Ryan who was writing in his notebook, his eyebrows and forehead scrunched up in concentration. She stared at his features and wondered what he was doing that needed his undivided attention.

Straining to get a look at what he was writing in his notebook she didn't notice that Ryan had turned around to glance at Gabriella. Feeling like someone was watching her; she looked up and saw Ryan looking back.

She turned her head back to the window, blushing slightly, embarrassed that she was caught looking at him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ryan slightly smiling, amused at her curiosity. She looked down at her binder hoping that Ryan didn't notice her pink cheeks. '_Why can'__t I ever mind my own business?'_

On the way to class Ryan was not as quiet as before and she managed to have a conversation with him, she found it easy to talk to him and Kelsi. The bell rang and students quickly got out of their seats and left without letting the teacher finish what she was saying. '_Finally.'_

"That felt like the longest class of my life." muttered Gabriella, once out of the classroom and into the hallway. "It wasn't so bad." said Kelsi. Gabriella gave Kelsi a small smile.

"That's because you were practically sleeping through the whole class." she said, making fun of her behaviour in class. Ryan laughed and Kelsi just blushed slightly but managed to smile at her embarrassing moment.

"Anyways, what class do you have next?" Kelsi asked Gabriella. "Ummm… math." she replied, looking down at her schedule.

"Okay, that means you have class with Taylor." said Ryan. "Oh, okay." she replied "Which way is that?"

"Go down this hallway, turn left, then turn right to the first hallway you see and your room should be on the second or third door on your left." said Kelsi, pointing to the direction of where she needed to go.

"Don't worry it's not as hard as it sounds." reassured Ryan when he saw the confusion on Gabriella's face. "Oh… well, that's good to know… I think." she replied.

"Okay, well my next class is this way." said Kelsi, pointing in the opposite direction of the hallway "and I don't want to be late… so I'll see you guys around, bye!" she added, making her way through the crowded hallway.

"Yeah, I should get going too… so I'll see you later?" said Ryan. Gabriella nodded her head.

"Yeah…" she replied and turned to the direction where Kelsi pointed of her next class. Before she could walk away she turned around when she heard Ryan say something.

"You know. If you wanted to see my notebook, you could have just asked..." said Ryan, grinning and left before she could reply. Gabriella just stood there, watching his retreating back then looking down the hallway she had to go through, which was still crowded with students. '_Okay you can do this…'_ She hated crowded hallways. '_Just follow Kelsi__'s instructions… go down this hallway…'_

She began walking, occasionally looking at her map, she passed students who were laughing and talking loudly to their friends. Once she reached the end of the hallway she turned left down another hallway.

'_Okay, then turn right… two or three doors down on your left.'_

Making her way through another crowded hallway, she noticed it was less crowded when she turned to the right. Looking at her schedule, she tried to find the number of her math room.

'_103. The second or third door on your left…'_

Looking to the left of the hallway for a classroom with the number 103 she didn't notice the student walking towards her.

'_101, 102... 10-'_ Too busy looking for her class she accidentally bumped into someone. '_Ow… not again.'_

Gabriella managed to steady herself so she didn't fall this time, she looked up to see who she knocked into, ready to apologize.

"Sorry." Both said at the same time.

She ran into a boy. '_Wow...'_

She stared at his face, her brown eyes finding his blue ones, he was staring back. Noticing she was staring a little too long, she looked shyly down at her feet and walked past him.

'_Stupid, stupid, stupid, if you stared any longer he would have probably saw you drooling.'_ Gabriella shook her head trying to forget how stupid she looked but couldn't help but blush. '_Oh god… kill me now. Well he _was _staring back though. Ha. Probably thinking about how stupid you looked.'_

She didn't dare look back just in case he was still there. Finally reaching her class, she opened the door. '_Probably has a girlfriend… I bet he could get any girl with looks like that.'_ She looked around the class, looking for a seat. '_He'__s just a boy…'_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone calling her name. '… _A really cute boy.'_

"Gabriella! Over here!" She turned her attention to the voice that was calling her and saw Taylor sitting at a desk with an empty seat beside her.

"Hey." said Gabriella once she reached her. "Hey, sit here. I saved you a seat." replied Taylor, pointing to the desk beside hers. "Thanks." she replied, giving her a smile.

Gabriella found it easy to talk to Taylor, they had lot in common. Gabriella was about to answer a question that Taylor had asked but noticed she was glaring at something or someone. She followed the direction of where Taylor was looking and her eyes landed on three boys. One had curly, puffy hair, the second had dark brown hair and the third was really tall, she thought they were pretty cute.

'_But not as cute as the guy in the hallway…'_ Gabriella's eyes widened. '_Where did THAT come from?'_

"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked, turning back to Taylor.

"What do you mean?" replied Taylor, still looking at the boys. "Why are you looking at those boys over there? It looks like you want to kill them or something." said Gabriella.

"Ha. I wish. They're just obnoxious people who think there better than everyone." replied Taylor, obvious hatred in her voice. Gabriella just nodded her head, not knowing what to say.

"Okay, that one right there, the one with the puffy hair is Chad Danforth, the one beside him is Jason Cross, two of the most stupidest people you will ever meet." Gabriella turned back to look at them. "What about the other one?" she asked.

"Oh, the tall one? That's Zeke Baylor, he's actually pretty smart but I don't know why he's friends with those two idiots though." replied Taylor. Gabriella noticed that three boys were looking back; she quickly turned around to face Taylor.

"They're looking over here." she said. "Yeah, nothing new… we go through the same routine everyday." replied Taylor.

"We? Routine?" asked Gabriella, clearly confused.

"I guess I should tell you… okay, so Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi and I never get along with them. We always get into fights or arguments with them at least once through out the day." said Taylor referring to Chad, Jason and Zeke.

"Why?" asked Gabriella. "Well… we get on their nerves and they get on ours, were just different from them and their whole cheerleader and jock group." replied Taylor, shrugging her shoulders.

"Their jocks, their part of the popular crowd and to them were considered geeks and drama freaks… we just don't like the same things they do, were different." she added. Gabriella was beginning to understand.

"They all follow Troy Bolton, he's like their leader… they practically worship him, it's really quite pathetic." said Taylor.

"Who's Troy Bolton?" asked Gabriella, noticing the class quieting down.

"You'll find out soon enough." whispered Taylor, paying attention to the teacher who was at the front of the class, ready to start the lesson.

* * *

Math class couldn't have gone by any faster and Gabriella was thankful it was over. During class she noticed that Chad, Jason and Zeke were giving her glances. '_That__'s only because I was sitting beside Taylor.' _she kept re-assuring and reminding herself but she still felt uncomfortable. When she came to East High she decided to lay low and try not to cause any attention on herself. '_Looks like there__'s nothing I can do about that now.'_

She was aware of the fact that everyone at school knew she was the new girl and it looked like her decision to "lay low" would be harder than she thought. '_I should be use to this by now… this is how it always is every new school I go to. By the end of the week everyone will pay attention to someone else and forget about you being the new kid.'_

Gabriella smiled at the thought. '_Yeah… no one will pay any attention to me after the first week.' _repeating it again to help assure herself that it will happen. '_Just make it through the first week… you'__ve done it before, you can do it again.'_

Even though deep down inside, she was tired of trying. Sure, she was use to the attention of being the new girl at every school she went to but that didn't mean she enjoyed it or that it benefited her in any way.

What Gabriella wasn't aware of was that she just picked which side she wanted to be on.

What she didn't know was that she took a side between two of the biggest rivals at East High, unaware that this was the real reason why everyone was talking about her.

What she didn't know was that she was the reason for causing all of this attention on herself. It wasn't her fault though; she had no idea that she made friends with one side and not the other.

Once class was over Taylor and Gabriella made their way out of class and into the hallway.

"So math class was pretty easy." said Taylor.

"Yeah… It was." she replied. "All though, I didn't get the bonus question… did you? It was kind of hard." asked Taylor. Gabriella didn't reply. Actually, she thought math class was _really_ easy.

She even noticed the teacher make a mistake on the board but decided not to tell anyone, afraid that people in class would think she was this huge nerd and she certainly didn't need any more attention. If Taylor saw how really good she was, she would definitely make Gabriella join the scholastic decathlon team.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Chad, Zeke and Jason make their way out of the classroom and down the hall. She decided to try and change the subject, so she decided to ask Taylor a question

"Taylor, when you say that Chad and Jason are stupid… what are they doing in an academic math class then?" she asked, nicely.

Taylor paused for a second before answering. "I don't know, I mean I have no idea… never asked." she replied. '_Then how do you know that their actually stupid?' _thought Gabriella, but decided not to ask.

"Oh, okay." was all Gabriella said while she looked down at her schedule. "So… you have PE next right?" asked Taylor, trying to fill the silence that fell between them.

"Yup… wait, I don't have any gym clothes though." she replied. "Don't worry, just tell Sharpay." said Taylor

"… Tell Sharpay? Why?" she asked. Taylor lightly chuckled. "That girl has everything. I swear, her locker and her gym locker are like small replicas of her closet." Taylor replied.

"So… she has some extra gym clothes then." said Gabriella. Taylor snorted. "Okay, when I say everything. I mean shirts, skirts, shoes, purses… you name it." said Taylor.

"Wow…" replied Gabriella. "Yeah, I know… a little much, but Sharpay says you can never be too prepared." said Taylor. Gabriella laughed lightly, amused by Sharpay's behaviour.

"Well… I guess I should get to class." said Gabriella. Taylor nodded her head. "Yeah, me too. I'll see you later." she replied. With that, both girls left in opposite directions and made their way to their next class.

* * *

Troy was waiting for his friends to come so they could walk to their next class together. While waiting he thought about what happened earlier in the hallway. He accidentally bumped into Gabriella, both were not aware that someone was in front of them.

'_You had the perfect opportunity to think of something witty and charming to say but noooooooooo. All you did was stare. Probably freaked her out. Ha. Must be the reason why she walked away so quickly. I must have looked like an idiot.'_

Guys would say hi to him as they walked down the hallway while girls would giggle and blush as they passed him, but he was use to it. Looking down the hallway he saw his friends making their way to him.

"Hey guys." said Troy, once they finally reached his locker.

"Troy we need to tell you something." said Jason. "Okay… what's up?" he replied.

"Well, you know the new girl…" said Zeke trailing off. Troy nodded his head.

"Yeah… Gabriella, right? What about her?" asked Troy, looking at his friends.

"So… she's in the same math class with us and we saw her take a seat beside Taylor." replied Chad.

"Taylor Mckessie?" asked Troy. "Yup, the one and only." replied Chad.

"And…" said Troy thinking that there was more. No one replied.

"What's your point?" asked Troy.

"Don't you get it?" said Jason. Before Troy could answer, Zeke interrupted. "Okay, think about it… if Gabriella keeps talking to Taylor…" said Zeke.

"She'll start talking to Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi, then they'll start hanging out, then they'll become friends…" said Chad.

"Which means she'll eventually be on their side… do you get it now?" asked Jason. Troy didn't reply.

"I'm going to take that as a no." said Zeke. In fact, Troy did get it. He didn't say anything because he didn't really care and he had a feeling that Gabriella had no idea that she decided to become friends with his biggest rivals and he couldn't be mad at her, he didn't even know her.

"No… I get it." Troy finally replied.

"They have an advantage now, they have another member in their group." said Chad. "Nahh, don't worry. I don't think she'll cause anything." replied Jason.

"Yeah, maybe." said Chad. "Uhh… you guys I think we should head to class." said Zeke. All four guys agreed and started walking in the direction of the gym.

"I wonder what were doing in PE today." said Chad. "Oh. I heard my dad say that were having gym with the girls class today." said Troy.

"Nice." replied Jason. "You guys realize that this is the only class that all four of us have together?" said Zeke.

"Thanks to my dad. I asked him if it was okay for all of us to be in the same PE class and he pulled some strings. He said that he didn't want his four top basketball players to be split up." replied Troy.

"Ahh, the perks of being friends with the coach's son." said Chad.

* * *

Gabriella pushed open the girls changing room and stepped inside. Most girls were still changing, talking loudly and joking. Looking around ignoring the loud girls she spotted Sharpay but she saw Gabriella first. "Gabriella!"

"Hey Sharpay." she replied and made her way over.

"Uhmm… Taylor told me to tell you that I didn't bring any gym clothes and that you can help me." she said. Sharpay smiled.

"No problem! I have everything… all you have to do is pick." she said. Sharpay opened her gym locker to reveal exactly what Taylor had told Gabriella earlier on, but too see it with her eyes was… "Wow, how do you manage to fit all those things in there?" asked Gabriella.

Sharpay laughed "I don't know… I just find a way." Gabriella nodded, smiling. "Well… take your pick, I think you're the same size as me, so it won't be a problem." said Sharpay.

She settled with black shorts, with red strips going down the sides, a simple white t-shirt and she paired it off with black and red Nike running shoes. She didn't really want to stand out. Sharpay on the other hand was a different story, she's was wearing a bright pink t-shirt, white shorts and bright pink running shoes with white strips.

When she finished changing she noticed that the shorts were… short. But not too short that her ass was hanging out, she was thankful that it wasn't. Sharpay certainly did not mind, her pair or shorts were the same length as Gabriella and she was comfortable wearing them.

Gabriella could have said something but she didn't because she was already thankful to Sharpay just for lending her clothes and she didn't want to complain. Plus, she didn't mind _that _much; she just noticed that they were short.

'_It's only going to be us girls anyway.'_

Both girls left the changing room and entered the gym, most of the other girls were already there talking and gossiping as they waited for their gym teacher. Before Gabriella could say something, their gym teacher arrived. Looking at the group of girls, she noticed Gabriella who was standing with Sharpay. Both girls made their way over to her.

"Mrs. Adam, we have a new student today." said Sharpay.

* * *

After taking attendance, Mrs. Adam announced what they were going to do it class that day.

"Today we will be having class with the boys." Mrs. Adam announced. A few girlish squeals irrupted from the group. Gabriella rolled her eyes and noticed that Sharpay had the same reaction, both girls started laughing quietly.

"Girls, calm down. I still need to take attendance." said Mrs. Adam.

While Mrs. Adams was doing with attendance, Gabriella looked around the group of girls. She definitely noticed some cheerleaders who were decked out in the school colours red and white, a few science nerds, some athletic girls. She also saw a Katie look-a-like. She learned that her name was Kristen McCall and figured she was a cheerleader and most popular girl in school. She was also blonde, tall and really pretty.

Gabriella also looked around the vast gym. The wall was still up that separated the gym, it was definitely big even though she only saw half the gym. Memorabilia hanged from the ceiling, titles hanging back from the old days.

"Today we'll mostly be focusing on fitness and endurance." Mrs. Adam announced. "But we'll wait for the boys and Coach Bolton so that we can tell all of you at once." she added.

Mrs. Adams went to the door to handle the wall separating the gym in half and the wall started moving, revealing the guys and Coach Bolton on the other side.

"Okay, everyone to the center of the gym!" said Coach Bolton. Both groups made their way to the center, Gabriella and Sharpay taking their time. Gabriella looked at the group of guys and noticed a few of them.

'_There__'s Chad… Jason… Zeke…__'_ Looking around more, her eyes landed on… him.

It looked like he noticed her too; he gave her a small smile when he saw her looking at him.

Gabriella returned the small smile, hoping she looked calm and collected trying to hide the fact that she really wasn't. She quickly turned her attention to both the teachers in front of the group and tried to listen.

As she tried to focus on what they were saying she couldn't help but give him glances every once in a while, she saw him quietly talking with Chad, Jason and Zeke. '_Wonder what his name is…'_

Listening to the teachers, she finally heard what they were saying. It looked like they would be put into groups and would do fitness activities around the gym. Once Coach Bolton and Mrs. Adams finished explaining what they were supposed to do, the class were put into groups. Thankfully Gabriella was in the same group as Sharpay, so she wasn't alone.

While separating in to their groups Gabriella managed to lock eyes with the boy again but both looked away. Gabriella smiled slightly as she went to catch up with Sharpay. This didn't go unnoticed by Sharpay though and she decided to ask Gabriella about it.

"Gabriella, do you know Troy Bolton?" asked Sharpay. Gabriella gave her a confused look.

"No… but I have heard of him, don't know what he looks like though." she replied. "Taylor told me he's a total jock, the most popular boy in school and that everybody worships him." she added, listing off the things Taylor told her.

"Yup… you got most of it, so she must have told you that we don't get along with him and his friends right?" asked Sharpay.

"Yeah… she said that you guys fight at least everyday." she replied. "Well… he's in this class." replied Sharpay.

"Really? Which one is he?" she asked, looking around the gym, trying to spot him.

"The one you kept giving glances too." said Sharpay.

Gabriella even more confused asked. "What? I don't understa…"

Gabriella's eyes widened in shock. Everything made sense now.

'_Oh shit.'_

'_Hallway boy is… Troy Bolton?!'_


	5. Realise the Obvious and Accept the Fact

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.  
**

Chapter 5

Gabriella couldn't believe it. '_Why didn'__t I notice he was Troy Bolton?_ Looking back at Troy, she saw him laughing with Chad, Zeke and Jason. '_It__'s so obvious, I was just… distracted. __Distracted by his good looks.'_

Blushing slightly because of her thoughts she quickly turned back around to face and answer Sharpay. '_Just answer calmly and she won__'t suspect a thing.'_

"Huh? What do you mean? Me! Staring? Where'd you get that idea?" she replied quickly, a little flustered. '_Damn it… way to be obvious Gabriella.'_

Sharpay sighed dramatically. "You don't have to lie Gabriella, I saw you giving looks at Troy Bolton." said Sharpay.

"It's okay to look at him, lots of girls do. He's obviously a good-looking guy, I'm not going to deny that but you don't want to get involved with him." she added.

"Oh yeah… the fights you would get into with him and his friends." Gabriella replied.

"Don't get me wrong, it might sound like I personally don't like him because… I don't." said Sharpay. '_Okay… that made no sense whatsoever.'_

"But that's not the only reason. He's your typical, jackass, pompous, self centered, egotistical jock, part of the popular crowd- who thinks their better than everyone else." said Sharpay a little out of breath.

"What I'm trying to say is that he's one of… them." said Sharpay, sighing.

"How do you know he's a typical jock? He might be different." said Gabriella, not knowing why she was defending him and hoping Sharpay didn't notice.

"Come on Gabriella, think about it. He has people following him twenty-four seven, everyone wants to be his friend; girls would do anything to be with him. Plus, the guys at school are jealous because he gets all the attention and he _knows _he's the most popular kid in school." said Sharpay, looking at the direction of the jock and cheerleader group.

"Obviously its gunna affect his already big ego, making it even bigger." said Sharpay. '_She has a point, but he just seemed… different. But how do you know that?'_

"I mean, look at him right now. He already has a group around him, basking in all his glory." said Sharpay, her voice full of sarcasm. Gabriella looked back and saw a group of jocks and cheerleaders surrounding Troy.

"You can tell he likes the attention… god, inside he's probably screaming 'Look at me, I'm so cool'… self-centered bastard." said Sharpay, rolling her eyes.

Gabriella looked at Troy; he was laughing and flirting with the cheerleaders. She was starting to believe Sharpay. Gabriella didn't know Troy and she couldn't just assume that he was different from other jocks.

She noticed that the blonde girl from her gym class was laughing with Troy and playfully shoving him. A shock of jealousy went through her but she managed to hide it from showing on her face.

'_Sharpay is probably right; I__'m just one of the many girls who think he's hot. He's just another jock Gabriella, like every other one in the many schools you__'ve been too. He's no different.'_

But Gabriella's eyes didn't go unnoticed by Sharpay, she noticed Gabriella looking at the two.

"Looks like you haven't heard a lot about Troy Bolton, so I'll fill you in since Taylor didn't tell you much." said Sharpay. Gabriella was listening to Sharpay but still had her eyes on Troy and the group. '_The popular crowd.'_

"You see that blonde girl beside Troy?" asked Sharpay, she didn't wait for Gabriella to answer but continued talking.

"That is Kristen McCall, most popular girl in school and head cheerleader." said Sharpay. '_I knew it.'_

"Well, she and Troy have known each other for long time, since they were kids and everyone at school believes their dating but they both deny it." Gabriella couldn't help but feel even more envious.

"I don't know why they bother. It's so obvious that the most popular boy and the most popular girl in school are suppose to be together." Gabriella didn't reply. Having enough of watching the group, she turned back to Sharpay. She knew Sharpay was right but she didn't want to believe it.

For some reason Gabriella had a feeling that Troy Bolton was not what everyone thought he was. She had a feeling that he was more than just a jock. '_But… why?'_ Half listening, half thinking Gabriella managed to listen to Sharpay talk about Troy and his friends.

"His main friends or his 'wingmen' are Chad, Zeke and Jason. They stick by his side all the time and are always with him. There also on the basketball team and considered popular too." said Sharpay

Gabriella nodded. Feeling a bit self conscious, she started pulling the bottom of her shorts. She understood that Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi and Ryan were different from Troy, Chad, Zeke and Jason. What she didn't understand was _why_ they hated each other so much.

"I get that part, how you're different from them. But _why_ do you fight with each other so much, why don't you just ignore them?" she asked

"I don't know, it's kind of complicated. They just do things that get on our nerves, they like different things than we do, they think they rule the school and the way they act is just so…. it's hard to explain." replied Sharpay, sounding a little frustrated that she couldn't find the words to explain why she hated Troy and his friends so much.

"Yeah, I kind of know what you mean. So, what your basically saying is that Troy and his friends are a bunch of stuck up kids, with big egos who think they can rule the school because their popular." she said, hoping that what she said was what Sharpay was trying to say.

"Yeah… basically. We always have the biggest fights with each other, everyone at school knows that. I don't think there are any other cliques in school that fight as much as we do." replied Sharpay.

"Enemies?" she asked.

"The worst." replied Sharpay.

"Wow… I knew you guys fought, but I didn't know you guys disliked each other _that _much." said Gabriella

"Yeah… well we try to avoid them as much as possible but it's hard to in a school like East High." said Sharpay.

"Everyone knows everything about anyone." added Sharpay. Gabriella couldn't help but glance back at the group.

She caught Troy looking at her, she looked him in the eye and he gave her another smile but this time she turned around quickly and didn't return it. She didn't know why she reacted like that; maybe it was because of all the things she was hearing about him or her perception that he was another typical jock. She didn't know.

'_Why is this bothering me so much? He__'s a jock… who'__s probably use to girls staring at him. Then why do I keep looking? Maybe I should stop doing this and leave it alone. This is so stupid; I__'m fussing over a boy I don__'t know.'_

'_Whatever, I'__m over it. Anyways there__'s no point in starting anything. Not that I wanted anything to happen, I mean- Ahhhhh… just stop it Gabriella.'_

Gabriella was thinking so much she didn't hear Sharpay calling her, she was already doing the activities they were suppose to do in class. She went over to Sharpay and never gave Troy another glance for the rest of the period.

* * *

Troy, Chad, Zeke and Jason made their way out of the change room and joined the rest of the group of boys.

"So nice of you to join us, boys." said Coach Bolton, calling out the four boys. He was already in front of the group, ready to tell everyone what they were going to do today.

"Next time don't be late, okay?" he asked but it sounded more like a command. "Yes, Coach." all four boys replied.

"Okay today we will be having class with the girls, so behave. We will mostly doing activities about endurance and fitness, we'll wait for the girls class before I continue." said Coach Bolton, addressing the group of boys in front of him. As if on queue, the wall that was separating the gym started to move and the group of girls appeared.

Troy turned his head too see who was in the class and noticed most of the faces. He noticed a few cheerleaders, including Kristen and her group of friends, Sharpay but he didn't pay any attention to her, just the girl that was standing beside her…

'_Gabriella…'_

Troy couldn't help but feel happy when he saw her. The two groups made there way into the center of the gym. He noticed her first but she soon noticed him as well and this time he knew what to do. He gave her a smile and was even happier when she smiled back before she looked away.

Turning his attention back to the class, Troy managed to listen to his dad but managed to give Gabriella glances here and there. He secretly noticed her glancing back also.

His father finally finished explaining instructions and the big group broke up into smaller groups. Making his way to one part of the gym, Troy managed to lock eyes with her once more, which made Troy smile, before they each made their way to their friends.

"I'm so happy that we get to have class with the girls today." said Jason, who had a smile on his face.

"Calm down, man. It's not _that_ big a deal." said Zeke.

"Maybe not to us, but for Jason it is." said Chad. "What's that suppose to mean?" asked Jason.

"Chad's just saying that we understand you have troubles with the ladies." said Zeke.

"I do not." said Jason, defending himself.

"And what does that have to do with having gym with the girls?" asked Troy, who didn't understand what they were trying to say.

"You didn't let Zeke finish, then you'll understand." said Chad.

"Okay… finish then, Zeke." said Jason, who was the most confused. "As I was saying… this is the only opportunity Jason has to show the ladies how charming he can be…"

"Heh… I _am _pretty charming." interrupted Jason.

"…So he has a valid reason to be around them without making up some stupid excuse and being told to leave." said Zeke, ignoring Jason's comment about being charming. Chad and Troy started laughing.

"Hey, girls _love _being around me." said Jason. "Keep dreaming." replied Chad. All three started laughing loudly at a mad Jason and managed to cause the attention of half the class.

"You know we're only joking." said Zeke

"Joking about what?" a feminine voice asked. The four boys turned their attention to the sound of the voice and saw Kristen and a bunch of other people from the jock and cheerleader group.

"Hey Kristen." said Troy, which led to heys from everyone else.

"Don't worry it's nothing important." said Jason quickly. Jason gave a sigh of relief when the topic was changed. Troy was surrounded by everyone and they were all talking and joking with each other. Kristen made her way over to Troy; she needed to talk to him.

"People are talking… again." she whispered.

"I know… I thought they would just leave us alone if we admitted it, but it made everything worse." he replied.

"I know, I guess we were wrong." sighed Kristen.

"I'm sorry…" he said. "Sorry? What for?" asked Kristen.

"For causing all of… this. It was my idea to pretend and I only made it worse for you and for me." he said.

"You should be, I'm tired of all these girls coming up to me asking about you and how amazing and cool you are. Personally I don't think you're that great." she said jokingly. Troy pretended to be shocked and decided to play along with the joke.

"It's not my fault that every girl wants a piece of Troy Bolton." he said, laughing at Kristen's disgusted face. She playfully shoved him. "Cocky, much?" she said, laughing.

"Awh, come on. You know I was joking, you know I'm not like that." he said.

"I know, I know. That's why you shouldn't be hard on yourself. You know, I also decided that it was a good idea to pretend that we were going out." said Kristen, reminding him.

"Yeah. See, that's why your one of my good friends, you always stick up for me even when I don't want to." he said sincerely.

"Okay there… don't get all girly with me now. There's a reason why I have my girl friends." said Kristen, laughing and making fun of his touching moment.

"I'm not… girly. I'm never girly." he said, making a face.

"Oh yeah? Remember when we were younger, I made you dress up like a girl for my tea party and your mom and my mom caught us." said Kristen, laughing hysterically.

"Ha, ha, ha." he said sarcastically. "Now that was girly." she said.

"But you have to admit. I made one good looking girl… for a guy." he said, smiling at the funny childhood memory. Which made Troy and Kristen start laughing, causing themselves the attention from people around them, because of their loud laughter and made their way over to the two.

"What's so funny?" asked one jock.

"It's nothing." said Kristen and managed to change the subject. Noticing people were talking about something he had no interest in, his eyes started to wonder around the gym and landed on the one person he was looking for.

'_There__'s just something about her…'_

Troy saw Gabriella talking to Sharpay, who looked like she was telling her something important. Staring at her, he saw what she was wearing and noticed how uncomfortable she looked in her shorts because she was tugging them at them. He saw Gabriella looking at him and decided to give her another smile, this time she didn't smile back but turned to face Sharpay quickly. Troy was confused and a little hurt.

'_Ouch. What did I do wrong?' _Troy's thoughts were interrupted when someone called him from the group; he turned around but not before giving Gabriella one more glance. '_Why do I care so much?'_

* * *

Gym went by faster than expected and Gabriella was pleased with that. "You have lunch next, right?" asked Sharpay.

"Mmhmm." replied Gabriella, still a little distracted.

"Great! That means you have lunch with Taylor, Ryan, Kelsi and me." said Sharpay, smiling happily. Gabriella returned the smile.

When both girls were finished changing, they made their way towards the cafeteria. Walking into the cafeteria Gabriella was amazed at how big it was, it was like nothing she ever saw at her other schools. Sharpay led the way motioning Gabriella to follow her; they both made their way to the lunch line and purchased their food.

Leaving the line both girls made their way through the tables passing every clique. Both girls reached the staircase that lead to the upper level where the scholastic decathlon team and drama club ate. Taylor, Ryan and Kelsi noticed the two girls and told them to come over.

"Hey everyone." said Sharpay.

"Hey guys." said Gabriella. Everyone greeted each other as Sharpay and Gabriella sat down. Gabriella sat down between Ryan and Sharpay.

"How has your day been so far, Gabriella?" asked Ryan "Not bad… I'm still getting use to East High but I have to admit it's alright." she replied. "That's good to hear." he replied. "How is yours so far?" she asked.

"You know… the usual." he replied, taking a bite into his sandwich. Gabriella nodded her head and continued to have a conversation with Ryan, both unaware that the three other girls were talking about them.

"So… do you think they'll like each?" whispered Sharpay. "For sure." replied Kelsi.

"It's pretty obvious." added Taylor "Yeah, it looks like they do but, I dunno…" said Sharpay.

"What do you mean?" asked Kelsi, confused. "Well…in gym class today, Gabriella and Troy Bolton kept giving each other… looks." she replied.

"So? Everyone looks at each other." said Taylor, clearly not getting it.

"I mean, they were giving each other… _looks." _repeated Sharpay, emphasizing the word looks.

"Oh… you mean- oh my god." said Taylor, her eyes widen.

"You know, for a smart person you really are slow." said Kelsi, jokingly. "Anyways…" said Sharpay. "Should we do anything about it?" asked Taylor.

"No, I don't think we have to… its not like they talk." replied Sharpay. "But what if they do?" said Kelsi.

"I doubt it… Troy already knows were friends with Gabriella and I don't think he wants to get his friends angry." replied Taylor.

"Plus, I told her all about him and I think I convinced her that he's not a guy you want to know." said Sharpay.

"Let's hope so." said Taylor. All three girls turned their attention to Gabriella and Ryan who were currently laughing about something..

"Awwhh, they would make such a cute couple." whispered Sharpay. Taylor and Kelsi nodded their heads in agreement.

The whole group was soon laughing and making jokes with each other, everyone was enjoying each others company. Gabriella was having a good time and was thankful that she found a group of people she was comfortable around.

"So… Gabriella, where'd you move from?" asked Taylor. '_I knew this question was going to come.'_ "Well, I've moved quite a lot… but the last city I moved from was Los Angeles, California." she replied.

"Wow… that's a long way from Albuquerque." said Kelsi. '_You have no idea.'_ "Uhmm, so… when is lunch over?" she asked, trying to change the conversation. She didn't like talking about where she moved from, it was a touchy subject for her.

"It ends in like one minute." said Sharpay. The minute Sharpay said that the bell rang, everyone packed up their things, said their goodbyes and went their separate ways until it was only Gabriella and Ryan left.

"You have music next, right?" he asked. "Yup." she replied. "I guess it's just me and you." he said, giving her a smile.

"Yeah… I guess it is." she said, returning the smile.

During lunch Gabriella had a great time talking with Ryan, she discovered his talent for music and acting. He told her about his passion for writing lyrics and music, which made her like him even more. Gabriella adored music, it was her passion and she was happy to find something in common with Ryan.

Leaving the cafeteria Ryan told her all about music class, she smiled at how happy he looked when he would talk about it. Once they reached the class, they both made their way to desks sitting beside each other.

In the middle of class Gabriella noticed that Ryan had pulled out his notebook and was writing in it, she couldn't help but let her curiosity get the better of her and she decided to take a look. She saw that they were a bunch of lyrics…

_They come and go but they don't know  
That you are my beautiful  
I try to come closer with you  
But they all say we won't make it through_  
_She wasn't able to read the rest of it because she felt Ryan's eyes on her, looking up she smiled at him._

_But I'll be there forever  
You will see that it's better  
All our hopes and our dreams will come true  
I will not disappoint you  
I'll be right there for you 'til the end  
The end of time  
Please be mine_

"That's really good." she whispered. She was impressed at what he wrote and thought it was beautiful.

"Well, I guess you can say I had some really good inspiration." he said, returning the smile. Seeing this side of Ryan made Gabriella think about him in a whole different light and she didn't mind it at all.

It almost even made her forget about a certain blue-eyed boy.

* * *

_4 months later…_

Ever since Gabriella moved to Albuquerque, her life was quite different. She couldn't believe that she and her mom were staying in one place for more than five months. Her life at home was still the same but for some reason she felt her relationship with her mother, getting better.

Gabriella noticed that her mom would be home earlier more often instead of working long hours at her office. She thought she and her mom were becoming closer and she was happy with that.

While her relationship with her mom was good it wasn't so great with her dad, but she managed to change some of the things she felt for him. Yes, he still called but it didn't bother Gabriella as much as it did before. She would talk to him and she would try to appreciate his dedication, because he truly wanted to be a part of her life.

She appreciated his initiative to call her occasionally but she never called him. She also learned to be happy for him and his family but she didn't know if she could ever consider her step mom and her stepsister, Katie a part of her family. She didn't know why all these feelings that she had been harbouring for the past year, she managed to let go.

Maybe it was because they moved to Albuquerque, she actually felt good here but she wouldn't admit that to anyone, she wouldn't even admit it to herself.

She knew that they would eventually move and she would feel a little sad when she thought about it. She hated herself for letting it get to her. She somehow managed to keep her promise of keeping her distance from people, without hurting or offending anyone.

Or maybe the reason why she let go of all those past feelings was because of East High. She didn't know.

"Gabriella!" yelled Marianna Montez. "Yeah, mom?!" she replied, she was upstairs in her room studying for a test she had tomorrow.

"Can you come down here for a second? I have some good news!" her mom said '_Good news? I wonder what that could be…'_

Gabriella could feel her excitement rising. Getting good news was rare; she almost never got good news. Making her way downstairs, she saw her mom taking the ice cream out of the freezer.

"This calls for a celebration." her mom said, looking through the cupboards and taking out the chocolate syrup, sprinkles, gummy worms and Oreos.

Gabriella smiled when she saw her mom pull out all the ingredients of an ice cream sundae. Whenever anything big happens her mom would always make them some sundaes, it was like a ritual in their house.

When she saw what her mom was doing, she knew that it must have been _big_ news and it made her wonder what could be so important that her mom decided to make sundaes, when they stopped doing this "ritual" a long time ago.

"Well… are you going to tell me or leaving me hanging?" she asked, as she ate a spoonful of ice cream. "Okay, you know how the company makes us move every time there is another opening?" her mom asked. Gabriella nodded her head.

"Well, I made them promise that we couldn't move until you graduated East High." her mom continued. Gabriella looked at her mother in shock. "And they said okay?" she asked

"Yes!" her mom said, more like yelled.

"This is so great, mom!" she said. She couldn't believe it, this was so unexpected. Gabriella was ecstatic. She went over to her mom and gave her a big hug, jumping up and down as she pulled away because she was so happy or maybe it was just a sugar rush.

"Thanks you so much mom, you don't know how much this means to me." she said, once she stopped jumping, smiling for ear to ear.

"I knew you would be happy, that's part of the reason why I asked. I saw how happy you are here… how happy we both are, actually." her mom replied.

Gabriella couldn't stop smiling, she couldn't stop as she finished her ice cream sundae, she couldn't stop as she helped her mom with dinner, she couldn't stop while she was washing the dishes and she couldn't stop as she went back to her room to finish her homework.

She was finally staying at a school that she actually liked, she could finally open up and show everyone who she was without the fear of it all being taken away. This was what she always wanted and now it was coming true.

'_I__'m so happy… my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. I can__t wait to tell everyone.'_

A lot has happened since Gabriella's first day at school. She finally joined the scholastic decathlon team and the drama/art club. She slowly but surely managed to open up a little to Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi but she didn't tell them everything.

She managed to stop thinking about Troy Bolton but she still couldn't completely forget about him, I mean who could forget about Troy Bolton? It was _Troy_.

There were still cliques and Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi were still fighting with Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke. Gabriella hated when they would fight, she was the only one who didn't argue with them and she would feel awkward when she would just stand there and watch the two groups yell at each other.

Sometimes she would just walk away and let them finish. She didn't have a reason to fight with them. Sure, the jock and cheerleader group was full of themselves but Gabriella didn't talk to them and she couldn't just assume they were _all_ stuck up.

She thought of it in this way because she knew what people would say when they would judge someone based on their appearance when they didn't even talk. She knew this because it would always happen to her whenever she moved to a new school and East High was no exception.

Plus, Gabriella didn't pay attention to them, she kept convincing herself that in a few months, she wouldn't have to deal with them but now it looked like she might have too someday.

Whenever her friends would fight and cause a scene with Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke, she didn't want to be around because of… Troy. When Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi would fight with them, she felt uncomfortable under Troy's stare.

_Flashback_

_Gabriella had been at East High for about a month now and managed to avoid getting stuck in situations when Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi would get into fights with Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke. However, today, she had no choice. _

_Gabriella met up with Sharpay, Taylor, Ryan and Kelsi at the front of the school, she should have known that they were bound to run into Troy and his friends but Gabriella was too busy talking Ryan to notice until she was stuck in a screaming match between the two groups._

"_Did you do the science homework?"__ she asked, walking side by side with Ryan as they walked to the entrance of the school._ "_Yup, it was really easy."__ he replied_ "_Yeah, I found it really easy too."__ she said._

"_Yeah… wait, do you remember what th-"__ he started to say but accidentally bumped into someone._

_Looking up Gabriella saw it was Troy Bolton that Ryan bumped into._

"_Hey, man watch where you-"__ said Troy, stopping mid sentence once he noticed that Gabriella was in front of him. He managed to catch her eye but she looked away._

"_Maybe you should watch whew your going, not everyone has to go out of their way to make room for you."__ said Ryan, giving Troy an annoyed look for interrupting his conversation with Gabriella._

_Taking his eyes off Gabriella, who was looking at anything besides the one person in front of her, Troy looked over to Ryan._

"_Excuse me? I didn__'t do anything."__ he replied._

"_Exactly, you didn'__t do _anything_, you never do. You expect everyone to do everything for you."__ said Ryan, by now Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi were behind Ryan and Chad, Jason and Zeke were standing behind Troy._

"_Okay, why don__'t you guys just walk away before anything starts."__ said Zeke, speaking up; he did not want to get caught up in a screaming match right now._

"_It already did."__ said Troy, glaring at Ryan, he tried to get Gabriella to look at him but she kept her attention somewhere else, she was aware of his stare on her. She had to get out of there. _

_But it was too late because both groups were already yelling at each other and she didn'__t even know how it stared or what they were fighting about. Looking at both groups, she could see the anger and hatred etched on everyone__s' faces. _

_Everyone looked determined in beating the other group, she was also aware that Troy__s eyes would land on her even though he was yelling at her friends. _

_She felt so uncomfortable just standing there watching the two groups, she didn'__t know what else to do but walk away._

_End Flashback_

So that's what Gabriella tried to do whenever her friends would get into fights with them, she walked away because she had no reason to fight with them, she walked away because she didn't want to get caught in the middle, she walked away because she didn't want to deal with it.

She walked away because she couldn't bear to look at Troy without feeling something that she wasn't sure she was suppose to feel.

Ever since her first day, she managed not to always glance at him but it was hard because she couldn't help it. It was like whenever she would turn her head or look around her eyes would always land on him or they would meet each other's eyes. But she would always look away.

What Sharpay told her about Troy and his friends on her first day, still stuck with her. Now it looked like things might change, she was no longer moving schools, she was actually staying in one place and maybe she could do something different for a change.

She knew just what to do.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Gabriella felt energized and excited. She couldn't wait to tell her friends about the good news and maybe this time she could tell them everything.

Getting out of bed, she went to the bathroom and did her normal routine; took a shower, brushed her teeth, picked out a cute outfit, did her hair, put on a little mascara, went downstairs for some breakfast and left for school but this time her mom was home to cook her some breakfast. Making her way over to the dining table, she sat down.

"Mmmm, that smells good. What's for breakfast?" she asked. Her mom was by the oven. "Waffles with some strawberries and blueberries… oh, and a little whip cream." her mom replied.

"Yum." she said, as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. Her mom gave her a plate and sat down across from Gabriella to join her.

"So what time are you leaving for school?" her mom asked. "In like 5 minutes, it takes me a little time to walk." she replied.

"Well… I was thinking, since your old enough and you've showed how responsible you are. I think you should take the jeep to school from now on." her mom said, giving her a smile.

"Oh my god. Really?" she asked.

"Really."

"Seriously?" she asked again, just to make sure.

"Seriously." her mom replied, chuckling at her daughter's behaviour. She went over to her mom and gave her a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." she said. "Okay, okay clam down and finish your breakfast." her mom said, laughing. '_Could this get any better?'_

* * *

Pulling up to the school, Gabriella felt on top of the world, things were going great so far. "Hey… well, well, well… look at you, pulling up in your jeep, the windows down, your music blasting. Someone's screaming for attention," said a familiar voice, jokingly.

"Shut up, Ryan. You know you love it," she said, as she got out of the jeep, pushing up her sunglasses.

"I like the aviators, nice touch." he said "Thank you." she said, striking a pose, causing her to laugh.

"Somebody's happy this morning." he replied, laughing at her behaviour. "Yeah, I guess I am." she replied smiling, removing her sunglasses and putting them on top of her head.

"So what's up? There must be a reason why you're so happy," he said.

"I'll tell you when everybody else shows up… speaking of everybody, where is everyone?" she said. Before Ryan could reply, they heard three other voices calling out their names.

Turning around they saw Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi making their way up to the two. Once they reached Ryan and Gabriella, everyone greeted each other. Immediately the three girls knew that something big happened because Gabriella was so happy.

The way she acted, it was as if she was a new person and they wanted to know what caused this change in her.

"Okay, you have to tell us now. You're so happy, something exciting must have happened over the weekend." said Sharpay "Yeah… I guess you can say something like that." she replied.

"Stop being so mysterious and tell us." joked Taylor Gabriella giggled and her face was flushed with excitement.

"Well…" she started.

After that Gabriella couldn't stop, she told them everything. From her parents divorce, to her and her mom moving to all these cities, her dad's other family and finally the good news that she was finally staying in one place. She couldn't help it, everything came out and she was relieved to let everything out for once.

She needed to tell someone and she was happy that she met people like Sharpay, Taylor, Kelsi and Ryan that she could confess too. Once she was finished telling everything to them, they just stared at her in shock, sure they knew about Gabriella's life but now they knew that they didn't know nearly enough.

"Wow…" All four replied.

"Yeah…" she said, thinking that maybe it was a little to soon to tell them everything. She looked nervously at the four, hoping they would say something else. Before she knew it all four went up to her and gave her a hug, she smiled.

"We had no idea…" said Taylor, trailing off. "Yeah… we're sorry," said Kelsi.

"Don't be, you didn't know." she replied. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" asked Sharpay.

"I don't know… I just couldn't," she said, feeling a little down, remembering everything that happened to her.

"Well… that's all in the past now." said Ryan. "Look at the bright side… your staying." said Taylor, smiling at Gabriella.

"Yeah, for good." she said, grinning. Gabriella wanted to tell them what she wanted to do but she didn't want to ruin the moment so she decided to tell them at lunch. '_I hope they'__ll still like me.'_

* * *

Usually classes would feel like they would take forever, but for Gabriella it felt like things were going by fast. Maybe it was because she was so happy or it was just one of those days. Before she knew it, it was already time for lunch.

Making her way to her locker she dropped off her books and headed outside where she was suppose to meet Taylor, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi. They decided to have lunch outside today. Since she left class quickly she decided to take her time, she knew she would be the first person at their meeting spot, her friends were always late but she didn't mind.

Walking out the front school doors she looked around the school, taking in her surroundings just like her first day at East High. It was hard for her to imagine that it already has been four months since she walked through those very front doors.

"_Still covered in red and white, I wonder if they ever get bored with those colours…__ she mused, __I guess there__'s nothing wrong with a _little_ school spirit…'_

She remembered herself being shy and timid but now she was ready to show everyone the real her. Gabriella knew she was shy but if people got to know her, they would see a girl who was not always quiet.

If people took the time to get to know her she would open up to them in return, it was simple as that. She use to hold up her guard when meeting people because she knew she would always leave in the end but now things were different, she could finally open up.

Walking towards their meeting spot, Gabriella noticed the cliques and for once she took the time to actually look at them. Usually she would just pass right by without giving them a single thought, she would just tell herself that their was no point but this time she was curious.

She noticed the skaters hanging around the steps leading toward the school; some guys were on their skate boards doing some tricks on the bars. Looking to her left she saw the jocks and cheerleaders, the cheerleaders were practicing a cheer while the jocks checked them out. Her eyes lingered at them for a little longer.

Taking her eyes off the group of cheerleaders -who were by now, finished with their cheer and already flirting with the jocks- she looked straight ahead and saw the basketball team. Looking at the team, she tried to spot one person out, she knew what she was doing and _who_ she was looking for but she didn't stop herself this time.

Finally spotting him, she couldn't help but smile, she knew the only reason she allowed herself to look at him was because she finally knew she was staying. She knew it was stupid reason to look at him but she didn't care.

"_He looks so cute, today… well, more like everyday…'_ Hoping she would catch his eye she moved a little closer, when he didn't see her she felt disappointed but quickly got over it, he probably didn't see her.

She knew that Troy probably forgot about her and moved on to another girl, she knew that most girls at East High would do anything to be with him. She knew deep down inside that nothing could ever happen.

Gabriella took her eyes off him and looked to the left, noticing her friends were already there she made her way over. "_Finally, I never thought they would show up.'_ Once she reached them greetings were exchanged.

"Sorry, I had to leave you in gym today." said Sharpay, giving her an apologetic smile. "Don't worry about it, you had something important to do." she replied.

"I don't think ditching your friend to see if you made the school musicale is considered important," said Ryan, jokingly.

"Hey!" said Sharpay, hitting her brother on the arm.

"It's okay, besides the school musicale is important to Sharpay and I was fine by myself," she said, chuckling at the twin's behaviour. "Are you sure?" asked Ryan, concerned.

"Yeah, I was fine." she replied, smiling that he cared. The other three girls looked at each other, giving each other knowing looks. All three were positive that Ryan liked Gabriella but they weren't so sure about Gabriella.

"Anyways… let's get out of here," said Taylor. Since it was such a nice day outside they decided to go to the mall for lunch and celebrate Gabriella's stay. Making their way to the student parking lot, the friends stared talking about random things, school, people, what they did on the weekend.

Gabriella knew it was time to tell them, it was the right moment, everyone was laughing and joking and she had to tell them.

"Girls… and guy, I need to tell you something." she started. "Okay, what's up Gabriella?" asked Kelsi.

"I decided I want to-" she said but was interrupted. They had unfortunately bumped into Troy and his friends.

"Move out of the way, freak." said Jason

"No. You move." said Sharpay

Gabriella rolled her eyes. '_Here we go again.'_ Not even one minute had passed and the two groups were already yelling at each other about god knows what. Gabriella took this opportunity to look at the one person she was hoping to see but he was too busy yelling to notice her looking at him.

She started to get annoyed, she was annoyed because Chad, Jason, Troy and Zeke interrupted the moment when she was about to tell her friends something important.

She was annoyed because Troy didn't seem to notice her; she was annoyed that she cared if he noticed her or not, she was annoyed because both groups were yelling at each other so loud, that it was giving her a headache.

She was annoyed because she was tired of all this fighting and for once she decided to do something about it. This time she did not walk away.

"SHUT UP! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" she yelled.

Everyone stopped once they heard her voice. Of course, they were aware of her presence whenever they would fight but they knew she would never say a word and just walk away. They were shocked when they heard her yelling.

"Just shut up, all of you!" she said, this time she didn't yell as loud as before but you could tell that she was getting mad.

"Do you guys even know _what_ your fighting about?" she asked them, more like demanded.

No one replied, they couldn't answer her because they them selves didn't know what they were fighting about. She didn't wait for them to answer because she knew they didn't have one, she continued.

"Exactly. You guys are fighting over nothing! Do you know how stupid that is?!" she said.

No one still said anything, they couldn't get over that fact that Gabriella was yelling… at them. Gabriella could feel her anger rising, she was frustrated with both groups. She could feel Troy's eyes on her but she didn't care, she looked everyone in the eye including him. '_Ha. You notice me, now? I guess I should always cause a scene just to get you attention.'_

Giving each group a final look, she scoffed when they still didn't say anything and turned around ready to walk away. She was mad that she wasn't able to tell her friends what she wanted to do but decided that she didn't care anymore.

'_What the hell… I'__ll just tell them now.'_

She quickly turned around facing the groups once more, with her head held up high.

"Oh, and by the way… I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad."


	6. Don't Let Them Get To You

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or HSM characters, just the plot.**

Chapter 6

It was Monday morning and he was actually thankful that it was time for school; he couldn't wait for the weekend to end. He didn't have to listen to his father drone on about basketball 24/7.

Of course basketball was something important in his life but he didn't want to base his life on it. He had other goals in life but he wouldn't tell that to anyone.

They would have probably laughed at his face if they knew that Troy Bolton- basketball god, thought that there was more to life than an orange ball and a hoop.

As Troy was leaving the student parking lot, he stopped when he heard loud music, looking over his shoulder he a saw a petite girl pulling up in a jeep.

'_Gabriella…__'_

He still didn't get the chance to actually talk to her and he had a feeling that she was avoiding him for some reason. In the 4 months that she's been here, he still hadn't said anything to her since her first day when he accidentally bumped into her in the hall.

He only said a mere 'sorry' but he wanted to talk to her, more than anything, there was just something different about her. He didn't know if he liked her, he just _really_ wanted to talk to her.

The problem was… he didn't know how.

He kept convincing himself that the only reason he wasn't able to talk to her yet was because of her friends and the clique she was in.

Sure, that was a good enough reason but he knew that it was more than that. He didn't want to admit it but maybe the real reason why he couldn't talk to her was because he was actually… shy?

'_Nahh… it can__'__t be…__'_

He would convince himself that it was impossible, I mean he was _Troy Bolton _but deep down inside he couldn't deny it.

Gabriella was now getting out of the jeep and Ryan was making his way over with a goofy smile on his face. Troy looked away when the two started laughing, it felt like he was spying on them or something and felt stupid for staring.

He couldn't help but feel a little jealous but he pushed his feelings aside and made his way towards the fountain in front of the school.

He could already see Chad, Jason and Zeke talking and joking around with the other jocks. It took him a while before he could reach his friends, people would stop him and talk to him, cheerleaders would try to get his attention and since Troy, being the nice guy that he is, decided to stop and chat for a while before meeting up with his friends.

Finally reaching his friends, he joined in on the conversation they were having.

"Hey guys."

He was immediately included, no one ever left Troy Bolton out. Listening to his friends, every once in a while his mind would drift off and would focus his attention on something else.

His eyes landed on Gabriella once again, he didn't know why he kept doing that.

She was now surrounded by her friends who were hugging her and rubbing her back.

'_I hope she__'__s okay…__'_

His attention was brought back to his friends, who were now laughing hysterically about something, Troy joined in pretending he knew what was going on. The bell rang and Troy and his friends made their way to homeroom class.

Just another day at school, but for some reason he had a feeling things were about to change.

* * *

Classes went by slowly for Troy; he thought the lunch bell would never ring. His friends decided to eat lunch outside today instead of the stuffy cafeteria but it looked like everyone else decided to so the same thing today.

Troy's friends were already outside the front of the school waiting for him, he saw Chad dribbling his basketball, and he managed to steal the ball from him as he approached his friends.

"Hey, what was that for?" said Chad, he tried to grab the ball back but Troy was too quick for him. This started the game, 'keep-the-basketball-away-from-Chad' who was annoyed by now.

"Come on guys, this isn't funny!" whined Chad

This caused Zeke, Jason and Troy to start laughing at how desperate Chad sounded.

"Pass it over here!" yelled Zeke while Jason threw the ball to him.

Some members from the basketball team noticed what they were doing and joined in, pissing off Chad even more. Troy knew that Chad wasn't really mad; he knew that Chad would get over it. The team played for a few more minutes but Troy eventually told them to stop, giving back the basketball to a grateful Chad.

Feeling like he was being watched, he looked around.

'_Ha. That__'__s an understatement.__'_

Of course he knew he was being watched, he _was _the most popular boy in school. He didn't know what or who he was looking for, he just had a feeling…

Looking ahead he saw Gabriella standing for a second but she started walked away.

'_Maybe it was her?__'_

His eyes followed her until he noticed that she was making her way over to her friends.

'_Nahhh… you wish it was__.'_

Even though she was in his homeroom and Phys. Ed. Class, he couldn't talk to her because of their friends and the fact that he was a bit nervous.

Troy shook his thoughts off Gabriella, he had to stop or at least try to stop…

"You guys wanna go now?" he asked Chad, Zeke and Jason

"Yeah." replied Zeke

"Okay." replied Jason

"Yes! Food!" said Chad

Troy chuckled at his friends' behaviour and led the way to the parking lot. The group of friends were not paying attention to what or who was in front of them until it was too late.

"Move out of the way, freak." said Jason

"No. You move." said Sharpay

'_Shit… here we go again.__'_

Troy didn't know how it started but he found himself yelling as well and he had no idea why. He could feel Gabriella's eyes on him but for some reason he couldn't look at her.

Maybe it was because of everything he was thinking or feeling for her and he didn't know what to do about it.

Troy continued arguing but then noticed that someone else was yelling also.

"SHUT UP! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Looking in the direction of the voice, he knew exactly who it was. It looked like Troy wasn't the only one who was shocked; everyone looked at Gabriella in shock and a little fear.

She never said anything when the groups were fighting, Troy knew and everyone else knew that she would always walk away but she didn't this time.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Chad with his jaw hanging open. If this wasn't such a serious situation, Troy would probably laugh at how ridiculous Chad looked at the moment.

Turning to face her, Troy looked at her.

'_Wow she__'__s _really_ mad.__'_

Looking at her face he noticed the annoyed look, she was clearly pissed off.

"Just shut up, all of you!"

He was still surprised at her outburst. This was the first time he heard her yell, yet alone say more than one word.

It was happening a little too fast leaving him speechless.

"Do you guys even know _what_ you're fighting about?"

He just watched her while she continued to talk, she wasn't yelling anymore but she was still mad.

"Exactly. You guys are fighting over nothing! Do you know how stupid that is?!"

She made eye contact with each and every one of them, including him but for some reason Troy felt that Gabriella glared at him a little longer then the others.

'_She still looks adorable though… even when she__'__s mad__.'_

'_In fact it's kinda… hot?'_

Troy wanted to smack himself for sounding so ridiculous. Troy didn't know what to say and apparently he wasn't the only one, the others kept silent still in shock.

When no one said anything she scoffed and started to walk away, but not before turning around one more time.

"Oh, and by the way… I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad." she said confidently and loud enough for the rest of the students to hear, who were already surrounding the two groups.

'…'

'_What?!__'_

'_How…?__'_

'…_.huh?'_

'_Did she say what I think she said?__'_

'_Wow…__'_

Gabriella paid no attention to the crowd and walked away, leaving everyone speechless. He had to admire her boldness, not a lot of people could do that without showing any fear.

Immediately the student body broke out into whispers all shocked at what Gabriella just announced.

"What just happened?" asked Sharpay, still in shock.

"I have no idea, but it looks like things are going to get a lot more crazier around here." said Taylor.

'_That__'__s for sure.__'_

* * *

Gabriella's day had been hectic so far and it was getting even worse as the day went by. Ever since her big announcement people were staring at her and talking about her. She could hear people whispering as she walked by, hoping that she wouldn't hear them but she did.

It was like the first day of school all over again.

Even though people were talking about her and probably judging her, she didn't regret telling everyone what she wanted to do.

Gabriella didn't plan to tell the whole student body, she just let it slip out in the heat of the argument, she was frustrated and who could blame her, this time she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

She didn't care that Troy and his friends heard her, if she had to do it again in front of Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke she would have no problem.

She was fine at first but through out the day Gabriella was getting tired and weary of all the gossip. The whispers and stares didn't help and they were getting to her, she didn't know how much longer she could take it.

After her outburst she met up with her friends again to go to class but no one would talk about it and for that she was thankful, she still had to plan out what to do.

By the end of the day Gabriella just wanted to go home but it looked like she wouldn't be able to leave school without a little confrontation with someone or a group of 'someones'.

Gabriella was walking out of her last class of the day, which was music and waited for Ryan in the hall. Ryan saw the tired expression Gabriella had on her face and was worried about how well she was taking everything in.

"Your probably glad schools over." Ryan said, giving Gabriella a small smile.

"You have no idea." she replied, returning the small smile. She could see the sympathy in his eyes and it made her feel a little better.

"You know the celebration plans to go to the mall and then to dinner after?" she asked, taking her time trying to figure out how to tell him.

"Yeah, because of you staying here. What about them?" Ryan replied, wondering what Gabriella was getting to.

"I don't think I'm up for the mall and dinner, I just really want to go home and rest." she said, hoping Ryan and everyone else wouldn't be mad at her.

"Today's just been really tiring and I just want to get out of here. I hope you're not mad." she added

"Is it because of… today?" Ryan asked quietly, looking around making sure no one could hear him.

Gabriella meekly nodded her head, looking at the ground.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad. I understand why you just want to leave, I tell the others, I'm pretty sure they'll understand." Ryan replied. Gabriella looked up to him, giving him a small thankful smile.

"Thank you so much, tell the others that I'm really sorry. Maybe another time, just not today." she said.

Both said their goodbyes, leaving in the opposite directions to their lockers. Walking down the hallway, Gabriella looked straight ahead ignoring the whispering and comments behind her back.

She wouldn't let people see that this affected her, all she had to do was get to her locker, get her things and get the hell out of this school as soon as possible. Once she reached her locker, she quickly got her things and made her way to the closest door, but that required her to go through the main hallway.

Sighing, as she made her way through the crowded hallway but she was stopped by three blondes.

'_Shit. Cheerleaders.__'_

"Hey, you." the tallest blonde called out.

Gabriella knew they were talking to her; she couldn't let them see she was afraid so she mustered up all the courage she had and looked the blonde in the eye. '_Okay, be calm. Don__'__t let them see you__'__re nervous.__'_

"Yes?" she said, politely.

"So you're the girl that's causing all this commotion." the blonde with the big boobs said, she looked over Gabriella with an unimpressed expression, trying to make the brunette girl uncomfortable.

"I don't know why everyone's getting worked over for, your _nothing _to get that excited over." she added

Gabriella didn't know what her problem was but she wasn't going to let her walk all over her. By know a crowd was surrounding the four girls, a few jocks behind the cheerleaders, smirking along with the girls.

"Excuse me?" Gabriella replied, shocking a few students including the cheerleaders and jocks.

"Did you not hear her?" the third short blonde, spoke up.

"Well, then let me repeat it." the blonde with the big boobs

"Listen carefully now." said the tall blonde, smirking

"What makes you think you can just come to our school and become 'somebody'. It might work from wherever the fuck you came from but it sure as hell won't work here." said the blonde with the big boobs stepping closer to Gabriella.

'_What the hell is this bitch__'__s problem?__'_

Gabriella didn't reply.

"Got nothing to say?" said the short blonde, eyeing Gabriella. Gabriella looked over to the short girl and looked her in the eye.

She didn't want to fight. Besides it was just a waste of energy and she didn't want to deal with right now. But before she could walk away, she said something that she knew she would later regret.

"Actually, I do. When can I try out?" asked Gabriella.

The crowed was pretty big now and people started spreading the word that Gabriella was standing up against the cheerleaders.

"Didn't you hear me? Who the hell do you think you are?" the blonde with big boobs said.

"You don't belong here. Why don't you just go back to your friends and run along. You don't know who you're messing with; you think you're great just because you're standing up to us? Well, be careful because we can make your life a living hell." said the tall blonde.

Gabriella didn't want to have to listen to them; she just wanted to go home. She could hear people laughing at her in the crowd, making rude comments about her, or pitying her and she didn't need that right now she had enough today.

She wanted just to cry but was trying her hardest not to, her confidence was slowly fading.She hated how she was just standing by herself while everyone was looking at her.

It made her self conscious and uncomfortable having all those judging eyes on her; she just wanted them to all go away.

She could have fought back, answered back but she couldn't, she didn't know what to say.

It felt like the laughing and comments were getting louder and the cheerleaders standing in front of her smirking just made things worse. She felt like she was suffocating.

Her eyes were slowly starting to water and she cursed herself when tears started to fall.

'_Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, Damn it…__'_

"Is she crying?" said the tall blonde loudly, enough for everyone to hear.

"Looks like she not so tough." said the short blonde.

"Like I said, your _nothing_." said the blonde with the big boobs, rudely and started laughing with her friends.

Gabriella tried to blink back her tears but for some reason she couldn't, looking at the crowd trying to look for a familiar face, her eyes landed on someone she really didn't want to see at the moment and he wasn't alone.

Looking on her right down the hallway she could see Troy Bolton with Kristen McCall; both were unaware of what was happening ahead. She could see them laughing and talking, which made her feel worse.

'_Now is not the time to think about _him._'_

'_I hate this; I need to get the fuck out of here, now.__'_

Gabriella looked around trying to find an exit but she couldn't, the only way out and to the door was to go through the crowd and she didn't know if she could do that.

Just when she thought there was no way out, the crowd started to make way but not for her, but for some one else. Making his way through, Gabriella saw Troy with Kristen right beside him.

He made eye contact with her, but her vision became blurry, she hated that he had to see her like this. She could feel his eyes on her but she couldn't see his face.

Now was her chance to get out, she pushed her way through Troy and Kristen and through the crowd ignoring the teasing coming from the cheerleaders and jocks.

Trying to ignore the pitying and rude comments coming from the crowd, she tried to look calm but she couldn't.

She tried not to look like she was running but her strides became longer and she broke out into a jog, another set of tears streaming down her face.

When she made her way past the crowd and there was no one around she stopped running and walked the rest of the way to the student parking lot.

'_God, I__'__m such an idiot.__'_

'_I looked like some pathetic loser.__'_

'_I should have kept my mouth shut.'_

'_And I cried, I fucking cried. Worse, in front of everyone__.'_

"Hey! Wait up!"

Gabriella stopped walking when she heard someone calling her, breaking her from her thoughts. She assumed the voice was calling her because there was no one else around. Turning around, she was a little shocked to find Troy Bolton in front of her.

"Yeah?" she asked, quickly wiping her eyes looking up to him. Troy took another step towards Gabriella but when he didn't say anything for a second it made Gabriella a little nervous. Gabriella looked away, wondering what he was doing here. When he spoke up she brought her attention back to him.

"Uhm…are you-, ermm I mean…" he started, looking down at Gabriella a little flustered, not finishing what he meant to say.

If Gabriella wasn't imagining things it would look like he was little nervous and he was.

"Yes?" she asked again, a little amused at his weird behaviour.

"Uhmm, what I wanted to say is… are you-…you okay?" he finished lamely.

Gabriella could feel a small smile, tugging but she wouldn't let him see it. She thought that it was nice of him to ask but was wondering why he was talking to her now, it was so random.

"I could be better. You know, being publicly humiliated and all…" she replied, trying to make a light joke so he wouldn't see how shitty she felt. She looked up to him giving him a small smirk and a playful eye roll.

Troy amused, smiled at how adorable she looked.

"Well, don't let them get to you. They might seem like jerks but not all of them are like that." he said.

"I'll keep that in mind." she replied, for some reason he managed to make her feel a little better.

There was an awkward silence but Gabriella decided to break it.

"I guess I should get going." she said

"Yeah… I guess you should." he replied

"Bye."

Just as she turned away, he asked her another question.

"Are you actually going to try out for the cheerleading squad?" he asked

Gabriella turned back around, and gave him a small grin.

"You never know." she answered, turning back around and making her way to the direction of her jeep, leaving him guessing. Once she reached her jeep, she thought about what Troy said to her.

'_Don__'__t let them get to you…__'_

'_Don__'__t let them get to you…__'_

'_Don__'__t let them get to you…__'_

As she sat in her seat, she was starting to believe those words. She didn't know how or why but Troy's words managed to give her the confidence to go through with her plan.

'_Screw them, I__'__m trying out and that__'__s final.__'_


	7. Adapting To Change

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.**

Chapter 7

Walking through the halls of East High the next morning, Gabriella was not fazed by the whispers surrounding her.

Today cheer-leading try-outs were going to take place after school in the main gym and Gabriella needed to concentrate. That meant she had to ignore the looks and stares and petty gossip from her classmates.

Making her way to her locker she stopped to get her books, none of her friends were there yet. The steady stream of students made their way into the school ready for another day at East High.

Just as she finished getting her books, she looked up and down the hall to see the three blondes from yesterday.

'_Don't worry, you can do this. Just ignore them and walk by.' _

Feeling confident, she calmly closed her locker and started walking down the hall with her head held high. The three cheerleaders glared at Gabriella with smirks on their heavily made up faces, trying to intimidate her.

They tried to stop her but Gabriella didn't want to get stuck in the same situation like yesterday so she just rolled her eyes, which didn't go un-noticed by the three blondes or the student body who was watching the scene in front of them.

Noticing that she managed to wipe the smirks off their faces, she walked away; she felt a hell of a lot more confident and knew that today nothing could stop her.

As she made her way to her first class of the day she couldn't help but grin the whole way.

* * *

Classes couldn't have gone any slower for Troy; school was finally over for the day. Troy came to school this morning anticipating what might happen at school, expecting more drama like yesterday but was surprised when everything was relatively calm, except for the small scene this morning.

He saw what happened between Gabriella and the three cheerleaders this morning expecting the three blondes to start yelling at Gabriella, ready to step in and protect Gabriella if he had to.

He would blush at the thought of himself getting so worked up over a girl, he never did that, it was always the other way around.

But when this didn't happen and Gabriella walked away, he knew that she was fine and handled this one herself. He couldn't help but feel a little proud that she was standing up for herself, what he didn't know was that he played a role in her confidence.

Now it was the end of they day, and that meant basketball practice. He made his way towards the guys change room, and quickly changed and entered the main gym.

The team was already there on one side of the gym while the cheer-leading try-outs were talking place on the other side of the gym.

Joining his team, they all greeted him. As Troy listened to his dad give out instructions he couldn't help but glance over to the other side of the gym, hoping to find a petite brunette. Looking through the group of girls he couldn't find Gabriella, she wasn't with the group of people trying out.

'_Where is she?'_

"Troy!" said a voice. Troy turned around only to be met with his fathers face; it was obvious he was annoyed at his son's lack of attention.

"Would like to tell me what's so important that you can't listen for five minutes?"

Troy looked sheepishly on the ground, not knowing what to say.

"I didn't think so, now pay attention… get your head in the game."

Troy mentally rolled his eyes and looked over to his dad. Chad, Zeke and Jason gave Troy a questioning look but he just ignored them and tried to listen to his father.

While his father continued to talk, Troy was wondering why Gabriella wasn't on the other side of the gym with the other hopeful try-outs. A second later the gym doors opened loudly, causing everyone to look in the direction of the sound.

* * *

Gabriella quickly made her way towards the side of the cheerleading tryouts fully aware of the stares she was receiving from everyone in the gym, including Troy. '_Great… just great.'_ She didn't mean to make a scene like that; she knew she was running late, thanks to three certain cheerleaders.

Gabriella was prepared and ready for the try-outs this afternoon but when she opened her gym locker to change into her gym clothes she noticed they weren't there. She couldn't help but suspect that a certain trio of cheerleaders had something to do about it.

Instead of her gym clothes in her locker she found a pair of short shorts and a skimpy tank top, if you can even consider it a tank top. It was more like a sports bra since it didn't cover her stomach at all.

Along with the clothes, a note was attached to it saying 'good luck… you'll need it.' The note was not meant to be nice and Gabriella knew exactly who sent it.

Now here she was 15 minutes late walking into a gym wearing almost close to nothing. She could feel her face getting hotter and hotter by the minute as she made her way across the gym to join the other girls, consciously pulling at her shorts and top every few seconds.

'_Please… kill me now.'_

She could feel stares from both sides of the gyms, guys wolf whistling and girls whispering behind there hands about how slutty Gabriella's outfit was at the moment.

She didn't want this kind of attention, she was pissed that the three blondes took her clothes, humiliating her once again. She didn't want the three girls to think that they won this time.

'_No, not this time. You've had your fun… it's my turn now.'_

So as she made her way to the the group of try-outs she started swaying her hips making the guys stare even more.

Gabriella put on a little smirk on her face and looked over to the three blondes, making her smirk bigger; she was letting them know she didn't care and she was ready for anything.

'_Stupid bitches.'_

On the outside she would have looked confident but inside she just wanted to die, this was not they way she acted and she hated it.

'_Okay, breathe Gabriella… breathe… you can do this. Inhale… exhale…'_

The three girls knew Gabriella wasn't the type of person to wear skimpy outfits and they hoped their plan would make Gabriella chicken out since she didn't have anything reasonable to wear to practice but they were surprised when she even showed up.

Soon they were starting to regret their plan, they wanted to humiliate Gabriella but in the end it looked like they only helped her. She was getting the all attention the three blondes wanted and they were jealous.

'_Ha. Looks like it's working. Who knew that they could jealous so easily. Okay, now to _really _piss them off…'_

Seeing that her confidence bothered the three girls, Gabriella decided to take things up a notch. She turned around to face the basketball team, picking any random guy she saw.

Gabriella gave him a flirtatious smile and winked in his direction making the boy blush at the sudden attention from the pretty brunette.

Guys soon playfully nudged the boy who was now as a red as a tomato, which made the guys laugh, teasing him even more.

Turning back to the three cheerleaders, Gabriella could see they were furious, their plan didn't work. '_Ha. Take that!'_ Soon the commotion ended when a loud voice boomed across the gym, making the laughter and chatter quiet down.

"Okay, okay enough, everyone back to what they were doing. Now!" said Couch Bolton in a stern voice, a little amused at how the teenagers were acting.

Quickly everyone returned to what they were doing but didn't forget what happened just a minute ago, everyone knew that tomorrow everyone at school was going to go crazy over this.

Gabriella turned back to the group once she heard a voice, the voice that was going to tell her whether she would be able to make the team or not.

"Anyways back to what I was saying…" said the perky blonde in front of the group

"For those of you who don't know who I am…'

'_That's highly unlikely.' _thought Gabriella

"And who are joining us at the moment…" continued the blonde, referring to Gabriella. "My name is Kristen McCall… head cheerleader."

'_Obviously. Like we _all _didn't know that already.'_ Gabriella didn't know why she was feeling so bitter towards the girl, she just did or maybe it was over a certain boy.

"Anyways, good luck to all of you! First we have…" And with that, cheerleading try-outs officially began.

* * *

"Congrats, you deserved it." said Kristen, giving Gabriella a genuine smile.

"Thanks." replied Gabriella, smiling back. Gabriella was happy, she made the team. She was proud of herself, she wanted something and she got it.

Even though cheerleading was nothing compared to the talents her friends had, at least it made her feel good and proud about herself. She accomplished her goal.

Also, it was the fact she got to see the looks on the three blondes faces when it was announced that she made the team.

She also learned the names of the three girls… unfortunately. The blonde with the big boobs was Sammie, the tall one Kayla and the short one Tammy aka Kristen McCall's bitches. They would do anything for Kristen, they would suck up to her but clearly it wasn't working since Kristen was just as annoyed with them.

During the try-outs Gabriella got the chance to talk to Kristen and discovered that she was actually nice, and she wasn't faking it which surprised Gabriella.

It proved to her that people aren't what they always seem, even though we always end up jumping to conclusions.

Making her way to the change room, she thought about what would happen to her now. She finally made the team. Would this change people's opinion about her?

During the try-out Gabriella did everything perfectly, not missing one step. She didn't know what motivated her to do so well, maybe it was because she had something to prove or maybe she was just trying to get a certain someone's attention. Well whatever it was, it got her a spot on the team.

Eyes were on her when it was her turn to show her moves; Gabriella knew people were starting to pay attention to her after her little performance during the beginning of try-outs.

She thought it was one of the most stupidest things she had done and that she probably embarrassed herself into the next century for acting the way she did.

Gabriella's thoughts were switched back to her performance and she inwardly groaned when she remembered how she acted.

'_Oh, god. Why did I have to do that? Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. They all probably think I'm some tramp. Shit.'_

Looking at her reflection in the mirror and wondered what had possessed her to act like that.

She looked over her outfit; she had changed and was now in her conservative skirt and cute blazer. If people saw her now they wouldn't believe you if you told them that this girl in front of them was the same girl in that gym today.

She didn't _mean _for it, it just happened.

Gabriella knew it was pretty pointless and completely unnecessary but she _had_ to show those three blondes that she wasn't afraid and she definitely wasn't embarrassed about that part.

Despite people's opinions, no one could deny that Gabriella Montez had captured their attention, especially Troy Bolton's.

While she was doing her moves she could feel his eyes on her every so often, she didn't know how she could tell, she could just feel his eyes on her.

Gabriella knew that she and Troy would share glances here and there but she didn't know if that meant he noticed her. Maybe they just accidentally managed to catch each others eye, she didn't know if it meant anything.

But today she got her answer, Troy _did_ have his attention on her and she liked it.

'_He's finally looking at me. Yeah, sure he has before… but this time I know for sure that he must be thinking about me, right?'_

'_Oh, god. I'm pathetic; thinking about this like it was a life and death situation. When was I suddenly so boy crazy? This is not like me, maybe Sharpay but not me…'_

She remembered the way Troy looked at her when she came parading into the gym and performed her little stunt. His face was in shock and she could feel his eyes looking over her body.

'_Wait. What if he only truly noticed me because I was wearing close to nothing…? No… Troy is nothing like that. Troy is not the type guy who goes for girls who dress like sluts, right? But how would I know… I haven't even had one conversation with him!'_

That's when Gabriella realized that she didn't know much about Troy Bolton, only that he was a basketball god and the most popular guy in school.

Frustrated with herself for thinking to much into the situation she left the girls change room in rush and out into the school hallway. Halfway down the hallway she realized that she forgot her cell phone in the locker room.

Making her way back she didn't notice that she wasn't alone in the gym, a certain pair of eyes following her. Reaching the girls change room, she pulled on the door handle, when the door didn't open, her eyes widen. The door was locked.

"No, no, no, no, no, noo… please don't be locked." she said out loud, pulling the door once more, hoping this time it would open. When it didn't budge, she kicked the door… hard.

"Shit!" she cried out, feeling the pain start at her foot then go up and down her leg.

"Stupid, stupid idea." she mumbled and she rubbed her foot, unaware that someone was looking at her, she turned her head. When she saw the figure she let out a small scream.

"Ahh!" she cried, putting her hand on her chest "You scared me; I didn't know anyone was here."

Looking up to the mystery person's face, she wanted to die of embarrassment.

She winced a little when she still felt the pain on her foot; her embarrassing moment had managed to make her forget about the shooting pain going up and down her leg.

"Hey… again." he said, remembering the first time he talked to her in the parking lot.

"Hey." she replied.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he saw her wince.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." she said quietly, looking up shyly at him giving him a small smile.

"What happened?" he asked. Gabriella gave him a confused look.

"Oh, I mean why were you kicking the door?" he asked, he could feeling himself smiling at how adorable she looked when she was kicking the door. Gabriella grimaced, feeling her face growing hot.

"Ohh, uhmm I forgot my cell phone and I went back to get it but it's…. ermm, locked so… yeah, you know the rest." she replied looking up at him with an embarrassed look. He let out a small chuckle.

"Oh yeah, don't worry everyone has their angry moments." he said. Gabriella just gave him a small smile. There was an awkward silence and Gabriella tried to look anywhere but Troy.

'_Why am I being so quiet? Just say something… anything?!' _But she couldn't, she stayed frozen her in spot suddenly finding the ground more interesting, thankfully he broke the silence.

"I'm Troy, Troy Bolton." he said

"Yeah, I know." she replied, her eyes widen she didn't mean for that to come out but she quickly recovered.

"I mean, I'm Gabriella, Gabriella Montez." she said. Troy could feel a smile tugging on his lips; he also already knew her name.

"Montez? Is that Spanish?" he asked but then quickly realised how stupid his question was but Gabriella didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah, well my mom is Spanish but my dad is half Filipino and half Spanish." she answered, wondering why she told him all that. Troy simply nodded his head, seeing that another awkward silence might occur he decided to continue talking.

"Uhmm, do you want- I mean if you want, I can call my dad and ask him to un-lock the girls change room so you can get you cell phone?" he asked

"Sure, if it's alright with him." she said

"Yeah, don't worry I'm sure he won't mind." he replied

"Thank you." she said, giving him a smile.

"No problem." he said, returning the smile. He took out his cell phone and called his dad. After he finished he turned back to Gabriella who was now sitting in the bleachers, he made his way over and sat down beside her.

"So… my dad said that he had some paperwork to do right now but he can come by later, can you wait a while?" he asked, hoping she would say 'yes' so it would give him a chance to finally talk to her.

"Yeah, I don't mind." she replied. Gabriella realized that this was her chance to get to know him; she could never get the chance to talk to him because of their friends. There was another awkward silence.

"You don't talk much, do you?" he said, jokingly trying to break the ice

"Yeah… I'm kind of shy." she said "At first, anyway." she added, giving Troy a small grin, which he returned with an even bigger one.

She looked down when she saw his grin. _'He's so cute!... What am I doing? Am I suppose to be talking to him?'_

She heard many things about him, but then again that was all just gossip. So far, what Sharpay, Taylor, Ryan and Kelsi told her about Troy Bolton didn't seem to be true. He didn't seem like an egotistical prick that Sharpay made him out to be, he was actually… kind.

"So, Gabriella. Where did you use to live before you moved to Albuquerque?" he asked, trying to start a conversation.

Gabriella hesitated a little, trying to figure out if she should tell him. When he sensed that she was a little uncomfortable, he decided to change the subject but before he could she answered.

"Uhmmm, well all over, I guess." she replied, when she saw the confused look on his face, she continued.

"Okay, well before Albuquerque, my mom and I use to live in Los Angles, California but my mom company makes us move around so I've lived in a lot of cities and been to a lot of schools." she said.

She couldn't believe she just told him that. It took her a while, months actually for her to tell her friends but here she was spilling out her life story to Troy Bolton.

"Wow, must be hard." he replied. Gabriella let out a smile, still not looking at him in the face. She gave him a sideways glance, he looked back but she dropped his gaze.

"Yeah, it is… but I manage." she said, a little surprised at how sincere he sounded.

"I don't know what I would do if my parents decided to move from Albuquerque. I know that at some point I might have to move but that would probably be the hardest things I would ever have to do." he said

"Yeah, it _was _one of the hardest things I've had to done." she said, noticing that this conversation was becoming a little depressing she decided to change the subject from her to him.

"So… have you lived in Albuquerque your whole life?" she asked

"Yup, born and raised here." he replied

Gabriella let out a smile when she heard him get all happy just talking about Albuquerque. He proceeded to tell her some of his childhood memories, while Gabriella would tell him a few things about herself here and there.

Troy was an easy person to talk to, she was a little surprised at first. He was different than she what she thought he was like. Soon she started to get comfortable talking to him, just the two of them but for some reason she couldn't hold his eye contact, he gave her butterflies.

They continued to talk, talking about things they liked, things they hated, laughing and joking along the way.

She wondered what was talking Coach Bolton so long but she didn't mind. Their conversation was slowly dieing, it felt like they talked about everything and they didn't want to stop, there was a slight pause before Troy spoke.

"How were try-outs?" he asked, he saw Gabriella's face turn a little pink and remembered what happened earlier in the gym in front of everyone. He held an amused smirk waiting for Gabriella to answer.

"It went… good. I made the team." she replied, looking at him. Troy gave her a smile.

"Congrats." he said.

"Thanks." she replied, looking away once again.

"So, what were you doing in here before I came in?" she asked.

"Guess." he said.

"Basketball?" she replied.

"Yup, what else would I be doing in the gym?" he said, chuckling.

"I'm just saying…" she said as she playfully rolled her eyes, laughing along with him. Once the laughter died down, it was quiet again.

"You're not what I expected you to be." she said, once she realised that she let that slip she mentally cursed herself.

"What do you mean?" he replied, a little amused at her randomness.

"Well… it's just that I've heard some things about you and well… you know my friends, they tell me things, that's all. But you don't seem like what they say your like." she replied.

Troy nodded his head; he had a feeling that Sharpay said a few things about him to Gabriella, bad things most likely.

"Like what things?" he asked, having a feeling that it was something insulting.

"That you're an egotistical prick." she answered, trying not to laugh but she failed and let one out.

"I always knew Sharpay had a way with words." he said smirking, laughing along with Gabriella. There was another slight pause before he spoke up again.

"Hmmm, so what did you think I would be like?" he asked.

"Well, when I found out you were a jock; I thought you would be like every typical jock. You know, girls flocking left and right, someone who has more friends than anyone, the most popular guy in school so naturally I thought jocks were jackasses but you seem… nice." she said.

"But you know, I try not to judge people." she added, an amused smirk on her face.

"Well, doesn't that make you sort of a… hypocrite." he said "You say, you don't judge people but here you are judging jocks, which includes me you know."

Gabriella looked at Troy's face, at first she thought he was insulting her but then she saw the playful grin on his face and she realised that he was just joking around.

"Ha, ha, ha. I guess your right and who would have ever thought you would know what hypocrite meant, you know... you being a jock and all. Who would have thought you had some what of a vocabulary." she replied, with a comeback

Looking at Troy's face was priceless; he just looked at her not knowing what to say.

"Don't worry Troy, I was joking." she said, letting out a laugh. Seeing her laugh made Troy smile.

"Ha, ha, ha." he said, mimicking her. "So _now _you're full of jokes aren't you, and before you were so quiet, you couldn't even look at me." he said, jokingly.

Gabriella gaped at him and looked away. "I wasn't afraid to look at you." she said, blushing slightly.

"Okay there, you can't even look at me now, how come?" he asked, he thought she looked cute while she was blushing.

Truth was, every time Gabriella would look at Troy she would start to get a little nervous. He made her feel nervous but at the same time she liked being around him.

She wouldn't admit that to Troy, she wouldn't admit that she was slightly attracted to him, wait scratch that she was definitely attracted to him, or that he gave her butterflies. But at the same time how did she know she liked Troy when they haven't even started talking until now.

How could she like someone that she just met? If was a new and weird feeling… but she liked it. Turning back to him, Gabriella could feel her confidence rising. It was weird; it was like there were two Gabriellas, the shy one and the brave one.

She was looking at her hands, wondering what she should say but she decided not to so she just simply lifted her head and looked Troy in the face. She could feel her face heating up but she was determined to prove him wrong.

"I'm looking at you now." she said quietly.

When Gabriella first looked up at his face, she noticed his eyes were really blue. Troy didn't say anything but looked at the face before him, admiring her features, taking her in before he stopped at her eyes. He was about to say something, but was interrupted.

"Troy!" called out a voice. The two students looked to the direction of the voice. Coach Bolton made his was to the two teens.

"Hey dad." said Troy.

"This is Gabriella Montez, Gabriella this is my dad." said Troy introducing to the two.

"Hi." said Gabriella.

"So, Troy tells me that you forgot your cell phone in the change room." said Coach Bolton.

"Yeah…" she replied. The three made their way to the girls change room and Coach Bolton unlocked the door.

"Thank you." she said politely, giving Coach Bolton a thankful smile. He didn't notice this was the same girl who started the commotion in the gym earlier, he had no idea.

"Your welcome." he replied before he turned to Troy "Troy, I'll just meet you at home, I need to pick up a few things from the store for your mother, lock up when your finished." he said, giving him the keys

"It was nice meeting you Miss Montez." he said before he left.

"You too, Coach Bolton."

Gabriella went into the girls change room and found her phone; opening the door to leave the change room she saw Troy waiting.

"So, your dad seems nice." she said. Troy wanted to laugh at that comment, but kept a straight face.

"Yeah, I guess." he replied. When Troy gave her that simple answer, she decided to drop the subject.

The walk to the student parking lot was quiet, it wasn't awkward just quiet. Finally reaching outside, both noticed that they must have spent a lot of time because the sun was going down. Spotting her jeep, which was one of the only two cars in the parking lot, the other one being Troy's. She started to make her way to the jeep but not before she turned to look at Troy.

Shyly looking up at him, she gave him a small smile. Troy looked down at the shy girl beside him.

"Bye, Troy." she said and with that she turned around to the direction of her jeep

"See you later, Gabriella." he replied '_Wonder what tomorrow will be like?' _he thought as he made his way over to his own car.

* * *

As predicted the next day was in one word: crazy. The whole school was taking about Gabriella, the nerd who managed to make the cheerleading team.

Some students thought she didn't have a shot in hell but she proved them wrong, leaving those doubting her, quite impressed. While some who had admired her for her boldness had a feeling she would make it.

Reactions and opinions were mixed but what all had in common was, _how_ did all this happen?

Everyone was going on with their regular and predictable lives until Gabriella entered, soon people started thinking about where their loyalties were.

She managed to make their seemingly interesting lives chaotic with just her announcement and now that she made the cheerleading team, who knew what would happen. Would things at school _ever_ be the same again?

Walking down the hallway, Gabriella tried not to pay attention to the chatter and whispers about her and continued walking to her morning class. If she thought the gossip yesterday was bad, today it was twice as bad.

She could have picked anything else besides cheerleading but then there would be no point. She wanted to do something _different_, something that was the _complete _opposite of who she was and cheerleading just happened to be that.

Sitting down at her usual desk in the back of the class. Slowly, the students entered the room and sat down, the last student to walk in was Troy Bolton followed by Mrs. Darbus.

Troy managed to catch Gabriella's eye and he gave her a smile and a nod, she smiled back… neither of them knew that the rest of the class was staring. Eyes went wide, and people started jumping to conclusions…

_Why was Troy Bolton finally even acknowledging Gabriella Montez? _

_They talk to each other?_

_Are they together? _

_There probably sleeping together._

_When did this happen? _

_And more importantly when in the hell did they become friends?_

Just by that little gesture from Troy, students instantly knew that Gabriella was officially popular. If Troy Bolton was friends with her, then she definitely was.

Mrs. Darbus stood at the front of the class. "Good morning students! Can you please open your books to chapter ten, we will be reading from…" said Mrs. Darbus, not noticing that half the class wasn't even listening to her.

At least her friends didn't take the news of Gabriella becoming a part of the cheerleading as bad as the rest of the school and for that she was grateful.

'_I don't know what I would do without them by my side.'_ Before she knew it, homeroom ended and she headed to her next class.

Basically that would be her routine for the rest of the day: Leave class as quickly as possible, ignore the rude people, acknowledge the nice people who would congratulate her and to pay attention in class so she wouldn't hear whispers going on around her.

Through out the day, her friends would stick up for her. If someone would make a nasty remark or a rude comment, before Gabriella could respond for herself, either Sharpay, Taylor, Ryan and surprisingly even Kelsi would jump into her defence.

_Earlier in the day (Sharpay and Gabriella are making their way to class)…_

"_Ew, that's the girl that made the team. I heard that she was acting like a total slut in front of the basketball team during try-outs. Did you hear about that?" said a snobby voice, as Sharpay and Gabriella walked by. _

_Both weren't shocked at this rude remark, they had been hearing it so many times already but by this time Sharpay was getting pissed off and getting Sharpay pissed was not a good idea._

"_Oh my god, yeah! I don't see what's so great about her, like what's her problem? Doesn't she know that the cheerleading team doesn't need her? I bet you she probably blackmailed Kristen to let her on the team…I mea-" said another snobby voice but was interrupted by a fuming Sharpay._

"_Excuse me, but what is _your _problem?"_

"_Who th-" one of the girls started but Sharpay ignored her._

"_You have no idea what your talking about so I suggest you just shut the fuck up before I make you." said Sharpay, her voice menacing and full of anger._

"_Oh, and trust me sweetie, the team _does _need her." added Sharpay, looking at the girls with a look of disgust._

_Gabriella stood there, her jaw to the floor. She was not expecting Sharpay to say something like that. With that Sharpay walked away from the two girls and dragged a stunned Gabriella with her._

"_Oh. Ehm. Gee. Rude, much?" said one of the girls, her voice an octave higher, still a little flustered by Sharpay's remark. Gabriella who was still being pulled away by Sharpay still hadn't said anything, her mouth still open. Sharpay chuckled at how funny Gabriella looked._

"_All you have to say is a simple thank you, Hun." smirked Sharpay_

"_Uhhh…uhmm..oh- tha-thank y-you?" stuttered Gabriella, making Sharpay laugh all over again._

When Sharpay told everyone else what happened, everyone made sure that at least one of them was with Gabriella, just in case.

During the day there was a point Gabriella was cornered and her friends weren't around, but she didn't have to worry because some one else defended her and put her and the school in more shock than ever. Troy came up to her and defended her, leaving Gabriella speechless… after that no one messed with Gabriella for the rest of the day.

After that, Troy and Gabriella would occasionally see each other in the hallway or in class and they would talk to each other, ignoring everyone else who was by now going crazy over this.

_During the day…_

_Gabriella was at her locker, getting books for her next class. Suddenly a voice called her name and she looked up already knowing who the voice belonged to._

"_Hey, Gabriella!" said Troy, making his way towards her._

"_Hi, Troy." she replied when he reached her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a few students looking at her and Troy, whispering. _

"_So… crazy day so far." said Troy, gesturing to the crowd of students._

"_You have no idea- wait actually I think I do. You are Mr. Popular." she said, jokingly._

"_Hey! It's harder than it looks, isn't it? " he said, with a teasing look in his eyes._

"_Whatever." she replied, a small smile forming on her lips. She hated to admit it, but he was right. Being popular was nothing remotely close to easy._

* * *

As the day wore on Gabriella was tired and really annoyed, especially about how people reacted when she and Troy would talk… she wanted people to just calm down, it wasn't _that_ big of a deal.

'_Geez, aren't two people aloud to talk. For God sakes… everyone else does. So what? Troy and I talk… _big_ deal people! Get over it.'_

She just wanted to scream at them and tell them to get some fucking lives. People were jumping to conclusions, and she hated it.

Soon the day was over and she was relieved. All she wanted to do was go home and relax, knowing she would have to go through all of this again tomorrow.

'_One day down… I better get use to it.'_

_

* * *

__A month later…_

Gabriella was exhausted and sweaty. '_I need to change. ASAP.'_ Wiping away beads of sweat forming on her forehead. '_Hmmm, a shower would be good too.'_

Kristen decided to have cheerleading practice outside on the field today since the basketball team need the whole gym for practice. '_In the god-forsaken heat.'_

Sniffing herself, her face turned into a face of disgust. '_God, I smell bad.'_

Slowly making her way to the school she sighed feeling slightly depressed for some reason. What confused her was _why_ she had been feeling a bit unhappy for a while.

'_A month. I can't believe it's already been a month. A month. A whole month. A DAMN MONTH! Shouldn't I be used to it? Why don't I feel happy? Well, this was my decision. Now I have to live with it.'_

Ever since that day, Gabriella's life was quite different. She wasn't part of the scholastic decathlon team or the drama/art club anymore; cheerleading took up too much of her time.

She did feel bad about quitting both teams but she wanted to do something different, she _needed_ to. She wanted to do something different because she now had the chance, for four years it was the same routine for her and she was sick and tired of it.

Now she was given a new start at East High. She didn't want to waste the opportunity she was given. '_Am I doing the right thing? Did I make the right choice?'_

Gabriella spent four years not being herself. What if this was her only chance to discover who she was?

She knew that her friends were disappointed that she chose cheerleading, but they wouldn't tell her that. They tried to support Gabriella's decision even though it was hard for them. '_I wish they knew how bad I feel.'_ Gabriella was a good friend and they would be there for her even though they didn't like what she was doing.

Gabriella knew she hurt them by choosing cheerleading but it's not like she could do anything about it anymore.

She was in too deep, meaning she was already committed to the team and an important person in the squad. Sharpay was right, the team _did_ need her.

Gabriella's relationship with the rest of her friends became even closer than ever, over the month they had Gabriella's back.

Through out the month, the insults and rude comments decreased but still not everyone stopped talking about her. This time it was bearable and Gabriella usually tried to ignore the gossip but that didn't mean it didn't affect her at all.

At the same time, her social life sky-rocketed, Gabriella became even more popular. It was something she never had experienced before.

Other than that it looked like things for Gabriella were looking up, she was smart, popular, pretty and well liked. But the one thing in her life that wasn't so great was her… love life.

'_Okay fine. Fine, I admit that I would be lying if I said that I don't have a little crush on Troy. I mean, who wouldn't? Besides, it's only a small, tiny, almost non-existent … feeling right?' _

Meanwhile Troy and Gabriella's friendship grew over the month, he was easy to talk too and he was fun to hang out with.

Her friends weren't exactly thrilled with her decision to talk to Troy but they knew there was nothing they could do about it. They could either be mad and miserable about it or try to accept it, no matter how hard it was.

Fights decreased between the two groups, only resulting to a few comments here and there. Other than that nothing big, this was also another thing that shocked the students of East High.

How did the two biggest rivals in school go from fighting non-stop to only throwing a few pathetic insults once in while? The answer was Gabriella Montez.

Troy's friends couldn't insult Gabriella's friends anymore because he was now friends with her; it went vice- versa with Gabriella's friends. She had a bit of teasing relationship with Troy and didn't know if he wanted something more with her or that he was just flirt.

'_He can't be though… right?'_

_Flashback…_

_A week had passed since everyone at school found out about Gabriella making the cheerleading squad. _

_Waking up early, Gabriella decided to actually try to look nice for school. She was gradually becoming confident and the way she dressed was also becoming different. Her usually boring and conservative closet now have some bold and noticeable items included. _

_Looking through her closet she pushed aside her knee-length skirts and blazers and pulled out a short-sleeved dark turquoise summer dress that went above her knees, something usually short for her but she was gradually getting use to and a pair of open-toed white pumps. _

_The dress was made of flowing material; it hugged her bust and flowed down right above her knees. It had a bit of a plunging V neckline, something she usually wouldn't wear but it didn't show _too_ much. The dress wasn't too tight but it hugged her body, showing off her curves. _

_For her hair she put it up in a messy up-do with a few pieces hanging out, framing her face. To complete her look she put on a pair of diamond studs and a thin long silver- gold heart pendent necklace which fell right under her bust. For make-up she did the basic eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss. _

_She didn't look over the top but enough that people would notice. She managed to pull off something simple and still look really good in it. _

_Getting out of her jeep, she felt confident and liked the way she looked today. _

_Apparently other people took noticed of her outfit, Gabriella never use to dress like that. This was also kind of new to Gabriella, she usually wasn't the "fashionable" one but she pulled it off._

_Walking down the hallway to her morning class she heard a wolf whistle. Looking in the direction of the whistle she was floored and speechless when she discovered that it came from none other than Troy Bolton._

_Who by the way, wasn't standing alone, he was in fact with the whole basketball team. Gabriella could feel her face getting warm and knew she was blushing. Noticing she was getting flustered, he smiled, he loved making her blush._

'_Am I imagining things?' she thought to herself_

_She could see Troy's smirk getting bigger and bigger, it was probably because of how ridiculous Gabriella looked at the moment, her eyes widen and her mouth slightly agape. He still found her adorable and her outfit made her even cuter._

_He didn't know what posses him to do it, it just came out. She didn't know what made him do that, it caught her off-guard, it un-nerved her. _

_Not wanting to keep standing in the hallway looking at Troy like an idiot, she gave him a small smile and wave, the team watching on in curiosity and amusement. _

_She started to walk away but it looked like Troy didn't want to leave her alone just yet, so he walked up to her. Gabriella tried to walk faster but Troy still managed to keep up with her with his long strides._

"_Running away from me?" he asked, voice teasing._

_Gabriella didn't answer, he was right she was trying to get away from him. He was making her feel all uncomfortable and flustered. What he did was so… unexpected, so… bold, and blunt really, something she didn't know he would do._

_When Gabriella didn't answer, he tried to catch her eye but she wouldn't look at him, he could see her face was red._

"_I'm hurt." he said, voice joking. When she still didn't answer he decided to stop with the teasing… for now._

"_Are you okay?" _

_Gabriella simply nodded her head, glancing at him for a second. She didn't trust her voice at the moment. There was a long silence before Troy would speak up again._

"_I-I'm sorry if I made you feel… uncomfortable earlier."_

_Gabriella cleared her throat before answering._

"_Don't worry, its okay." she replied, quietly. They walked to their first period class together in silence, but before Gabriella could go in Troy pulled her aside._

"_Uhmmm, wh-what I did earlier… forget about that. I didn't mean to make you feel… weird." he said, giving her a smile. Gabriella just nodded her head._

"_You really do look nice today." he said shyly._

"_Thank you." she replied, giving him a smile in return._

_End flashback_

But he also had his shy moments. There were moments where he was the shy boy and then there were times where he was confident or he would make a move, making her feel all confused about him…

'_I hate it when he acts like that; he's so hard to read sometimes.'_

It was like he had two personalities, in a way he was almost like her. She was also shy but she had her confident moments as well, she would be just as upfront as him but then be just as shy around him, leaving him confused.

It was like they were taking turns, playing some sort of game… leaving both of them confused about the other. They didn't know how to stop it, unless they admit they liked each other.

Then there was Ryan, she hadn't completely forgotten about him. She was a little closer to Ryan than Troy because she did know Ryan longer than Troy.

She could tell him things without being shy while Ryan was the shy one at times. '_He's been acting a little weird lately.'_

Truthfully Ryan really liked Gabriella, but being the nice guy that he was, he didn't know if he could step over the boundary. The boundary of being just friends or something more than friends. He had to figure out if Gabriella liked him the way he like her.

She had been distracted by Troy that she almost forgot the feelings she had in the beginning about Ryan, but over the month her and Ryan became even closer than ever, him looking after her and all.

The way he would make her laugh when she was having a shitty day, how supportive he has been through out everything. When she thought about it, Ryan was probably her best friend.

She hadn't forgotten that she was slightly attracted to Ryan in the beginning she moved to East High and maybe she still was…

'_Okay fine. Fine… I think I still do. There, I admitted it. I'm attracted to both Ryan and Troy.'_ The minute she admitted it to herself her brain went into overdrive.

'_But Ryan is my best friend… what do I do about that… ? And what about Troy_… _I don't even know anymore. Is it okay to like two guys at the same time? Is it wrong? Is it normal? Does that make me a… ? A what exactly? What _does_ that make me?'_

Gabriella sighed. These feelings were new to her, having never experience something like this along with her sudden popularity.

She didn't know. She didn't know what to do, what to think, what to feel and she was frustrated because of that. She didn't know if it was just a slight attraction she had for the two boys or something more. She knew that thinking more about it wouldn't help her.

So instead of fussing about the situation she decided to stop analysing it so much. '_Nothing would probably happen.'_

That wasn't the most important thing she needed to do at the moment. What she needed to do right now was change. Change out of her sweaty, disgusting clothes. Now.

She had been walking the whole time, it felt like she wasn't getting any closer to the school so she decided to run the rest of the way towards the gym.


	8. DRAMA

**Disclaimer: I don****'****t own HSM or any HSM characters.**

Chapter 8

Meanwhile…

Basketball practice had just ended but Troy and Chad decided to hang back in the gym for a while, just to shoot some hoops a little longer and to talk. Actually Chad wanted to talk to Troy about a certain girl…

Up until this moment the two teens were joking around talking about things guys talked about. Chad was waiting for the perfect moment to bring up the subject that he was curious about. Once the joking died down Chad decided it was now or never and carefully brought up the subject.

"So, I uh-uhm… I noticed that you and that Gabriella girl are getting close now." he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah… I guess we are." Troy replied, awkwardly.

"Don't worry Chad she won't replace you as my best friend." Troy added, forcing out a laugh. He didn't like where this was going but Chad continued to ask, disregarding Troy's discomfort.

"So… your _just _friends, right? Or are you guys more than friends?" Chad asked, looking at Troy to see his reaction towards the question.

"Wh-what are you talking about? Of course we're just friends." Troy answered, trying to mask his voice from showing any evidence that he wanted it to be more. He did not want Chad to know that he liked Gabriella; he knew that Chad wouldn't understand.

But Chad knew that Troy was hiding something, he just knew. It looked like Troy's attempt to hide the nervousness in his voice didn't work. Chad for some reason started to get annoyed at Troy's behaviour.

'_How did some girl managed to make Troy Bolton unsure of himself? How did some girl manage to make Troy lie to him?' _

'_I am his best friend, right? Therefore Troy should be able to tell me anything.' Chad thought._

Chad's previous plan to bring up the subject subtly was thrown out the window. He got so worked up that before he knew it he was ranting at Troy telling him everything that was bothering him. He wanted to know why Troy was so fascinated by this girl, why were they friends?

"Why do you even talk to her? She just a girl, like every other girl in this school. What's so different about her?

"How did she manage to change you? Before she moved here, you didn't even pay attention to any of the nerds at school but then all of a sudden your real close with one.

"Okay, yeah she's now a cheerleader and is more popular than before but that doesn't change who she is!

"She's a geek and will always be a geek no matter what she does! I know it and you know it. Hell, I bet you _she_ even knows it.

"I know I sound like a prick but I've been doing nothing for too long." Chad paused, trying to catch his breath. Troy didn't say anything for a moment, trying to understand and process what Chad had just said.

"I dunno."

"I dunno? What's that suppose to mean?"

Troy sighed.

"I just don't know Chad, okay. I don't know _how_ we started talking, we just did."

"Isn't it strange that you only started talking to Gabriella _after_ she made the cheerleading team, but you've never talked to her until then." Chad said, before he could bite his tongue, almost wincing at how harsh he sounded. But he couldn't stop at that and he continued.

"Ha, and you knew she had been at East High for months, you had plenty of time to talk to her but you didn't. When she was part of the nerd crowd, you didn't talk to her then. But then all of a sudden, the minute she makes the cheerleading team you're suddenly talking to her? So, I need to know, what are you doing with her?"

"What are you trying to say Chad? What? That I'm using her or something."

When Chad didn't say anything, Troy looked at him in disbelief.

"Looks like it. Gabriella is suddenly popular and you just want a piece of the action."

Troy couldn't believe what he was hearing; did Chad really think that he was using Gabriella?

Troy almost wanted to laugh at how stupid and ridiculous Chad was for thinking that, but his brief amusement was taken over by his rage.

"Okay, fine. Since you want me to admit it so badly. Your right! I'm using her!"

* * *

She quickly wiped away the tears that managed to escape her eyes.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard; trying to understand, trying so hard but failing… she couldn't think properly, her emotions were stopping her from understanding completely.

Just outside of the gym doors stood a girl who was wiping the rapidly falling tears from her eyes and trying to hold back even more tears that threatened to fall.

Their friendship and the hope she had of them being more than just friends were all a bunch of lies.

Everything was a lie, she was lied too.

And she didn't want to hear no more, she was done.

So she ran, she ran as fast as her legs could go, tears spilling along the way, trying to get as far away from the gym as she could.

Hurt. That was all she was feeling at the moment. It hurt too much to stay any longer or to confront him… but if she had stayed she would have heard the truth.

* * *

"Okay, fine. Since you want me to admit it so badly. Your right! I'm using her!" he yelled at Chad.

Chad looked scared, Troy had never yelled at him like that before. No one said anything for a second but Troy continued, not yelling this time but still angry.

"Happy, Chad? Is that what you wanted me to say? Huh?"

Chad didn't reply, Troy's voice made Chad cringe at how furious he sounded. When Chad still didn't say anything, Troy continued.

"Did you really think I would do that to someone? Do you? I thought you knew me better than that."

Troy wanted to yell at Chad for being so quiet. Chad was the one who brought up this damn conversation and he wasn't even talking but he decided that would get them no where if he started yelling at him.

Troy sighed before he continued, trying to think of a way to explain things to Chad.

"Okay, fine. Your right. I didn't start talking to Gabriella until she made the team, but I am NOT using her.

"Why would I? I have no reason to use her. I'm already popular, I know that and I sure as hell thought you knew that too. I'm surprised that you would think I want to be even more popular.

"Don't you realize? Don't you see? Don't you notice, Chad? That sometimes I wish I was never popular.

"Do you think I enjoy people talking about me behind my back, spreading bullshit rumours about me, looking up to me like I'm some fucking leader when sometimes I just want to be part of the crowd and not the center of attention.

"And if you think I would use Gabriella just for that, then you're not the friend that I thought you were.

"Damn it Chad, what do you want me to say? What do you want me to admit?"

"Fine, I like Gabriella; she's a good friend… I would never use her like that. I like hanging out with her, she's fun, she makes me laugh and she's easy to talk to. She's important to me.

"If you were my friend, then you would accept what I have with Gabriella. Who I talk too and who I hang out with, especially someone as great as Gabriella should not affect our friendship."

Chad had kept silent the whole time Troy was talking, trying to digest everything he was told… he anger had managed to fade as Troy talked and soon his rage was replaced with guilt.

Guilt, for making Troy questioning their friendship. Guilt, for accusing Troy of using Gabriella, of course Troy would never do that to her, to anyone actually.

Chad felt bad… and knew that he had to apologize, he would respect Troy's choices but that did not mean he suddenly wanted to be friends with her.

There had been a tense silence before Chad could answer.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry… it's just that everything's so different now. I promise I won't bother you and Gabriella anymore. If you want to be friends with her than that's your choice and not mine."

"I knew you would come around."

"I said I would _try_ to accept your friendship…"

"I know, and I'm grateful for that."

"But I'm not keeping any promises."

And Troy was okay with that, it was better than nothing.

There was another tense silence but Chad, being Chad managed to break it.

"Wow man, who knew you were so deep, eh?"

"Shut up."

"Getting all dramatic too. Making me think that I was right, nice touch. Getting up in my face and yelling at me. Damn, I wish I had video taped that, we could have made it into a movie and made millions."

"Chad…"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

* * *

If the girl stayed longer to listen, she would have heard the truth but she had heard enough. What Troy said had hurt and she believe that what he said to Chad was true.

Soon her sadness was replaced with anger, she was angry at Troy for using her. Angry at what Chad said, and the fact that what he said was right only made her angrier.

He was right about the fact that Troy only started talking to her after she made the team and it made her wonder why… the only conclusion she came up with was the one that Chad assumed.

But what hurt and bothered her most was what Chad had said about her always being a nerd. He was right and the truth hurt.

She would always be the smart person and nothing could change that, even becoming a cheerleader wouldn't change that.

No matter what she did, no matter what she decided to do, she couldn't change herself. And that was the main reason why she was angry.

'_I guess that__'__s all you think I am, someone you can use to boost up your fucking ego. __I don__'__t care anymore…__'_

'_I don__'__t need you Troy Bolton, I don__'__t need your friendship, I don__'__t need anything you have to offer… I can live without you.__'_

'_But let__'__s see if you can live without me.__'_

* * *

Troy was confused. Confused at Gabriella's behaviour.

After his conversation with Chad, he felt a lot better admitting some of the things he had been keeping to himself.

But the next day, Gabriella barely acknowledged him.

And now it's been a week and Gabriella hadn't said one word to him.

At first he thought she was just having a bad day but when she continued to give him the cold shoulder and deliberately ignore him he couldn't help but feel hurt. _Really_ hurt.

'_I thought we were good friends now? What happened?__ Did I do something?__'_

Troy would try to catch her but she was always quick enough to get away.

He needed to get her alone; he needed to know what was wrong. He just wanted to talk to her and ask her the questions that were bothering him.

But really he just missed her, everything about her.

He was positive now that he liked her, really, really liked her and now with Chad's semi approval he wanted to tell her.

He was sure that Gabriella liked him as well, but he didn't want to be too sure of himself.

What if he was just imagining things? Imagining that Gabriella liked him in that way because he was desperate to call her his.

He just didn't know how to bring it up, to ask her whether she felt the same way. That's why he would act shy one minute then be so bold the next. He didn't know if he could cross the line as being just friends or more.

It had been a week and Troy was frustrated, so he deicide to got to the place he always went when he just wanted to be by himself. Pushing the door that led to the garden upstairs, he took the stairs leading up two at a time. What he didn't expect was to see the girl he had been thinking of a few minutes ago.

* * *

Gabriella was frustrated. Frustrated at herself.

If she had just minded her own damn business she wouldn't be in this situation.

If she didn't stop to listen to that conversation in the gym a week ago she wouldn't be up here in the place that reminded her so much of Troy.

She knew that this was the place she would most likely run into Troy but she didn't care. She needed to get away and this was the only place she knew that would make her feel better.

Troy had showed her this place and she fell in love with it, it over looked the school and it was calm and peaceful up there. A great place to think and just get away. No wonder Troy loved this place so much.

_Flashback_

"_Where are you leading me, Troy?__"__ she asked, trying to keep up with his long strides._

"_Just be quiet… you__'__ll see.__"_

"_You suck.__"_

"_You're not very patient are you?__"_

"_Nope.__"__ she replied, causing him to chuckle_

_She stopped walking abruptly which caused Troy to turn around when he noticed she wasn__'__t by his side anymore._

"_I__'__m not going to walk another step unless you tell me where you are taking me.__"__ she said with mock seriousness, crossing her arms and taping her foot._

"_Just come on… it__'__ll be worth it. I promise.__"_

"_No, just tell me… please?__"__ she asked, purposely pouting_

"_Nope.__"__ he said, giving her a sweet smile._

"_Please?__"_

_Troy just shock his head taking a step forward until he is in front of her. _

"_Not only are you un-patient… your stubborn too.__"_

"_I know.__"__ she replied, causing Troy to laugh_

"_Come on.__"__ he said, suddenly picking her up and putting her over his shoulder_

"_TROY! What are you doing?!__"__ she screeched._

"_Just shut up.__"__ he said, jokingly._

"_Put me down …now.__"__ she demanded_

"_No.__"__ he said, laughing _

"_I__'__ll get you for this.__"__ she said, she couldn__'__t help but smile at how ridiculous he was being._

"_Whatever… you know you like it. You get a perfect view of my ass.__"__ he smirked, feeling her squirm._

_Gabriella a little flustered at his comment, tried to laugh it off._

"_Conceited, much?__"_

"_Yup.__"__ he said, smiling._

"_You suck.__"_

"_You said that already.__"_

_Troy suddenly puts her down._

"_We__'__re here.__"_

"_Wow…__"__ she said, taking in everything, looking over at Troy who had on a content smile.  
_

"_Told you it would be worth it.__"__ he said, looking over to Gabriella, with a knowing smirk._

"_Shut up.__"_

_End Flashback_

She thought that they were friends, when in reality it was just all a game to him. Their friendship meant nothing to him; she thought they had something but obviously she was wrong.

She couldn't believe that Troy would do that to her, use her like that; she was just beginning to trust him.

But then again if she didn't listen in on that conversation, maybe she wouldn't be Ryan's girlfriend right now or have become good friends with Kristen.

_Flashback_

_When she went to school the next day, she met up with everyone at their usual spot and tried to smile when they greeted her. No one realised that inside she was hurting, no one except Ryan. _

_He knew that something had happened and he decided to ask her about it once they were alone. For the whole day Gabriella wasn__'__t her usual self but she managed to convince everyone that she was, smiling and laughing in all the right places no matter how hard it was for her. _

_Ryan decided to ask her in music class, sitting beside her he gave Gabriella a sideways glance. Gabriella knowing he was trying to get her attention turned to look at him. She looked up at him expectedly, ready to fake a smile._

"_Are you okay?__" Ryan asked._

_Gabriella suppressed a sigh. _

"_Of course, why wouldn__'__t I be?__"__ faking her ready smile. Ryan didn't believe her, he saw right through it._

"_You know, you don__'__t have to lie to me Gaby. I can tell if you are.__"_

_Gabriella wasn__'__t really surprised at that; she knew that Ryan knew her better than anyone. Gabriella struggled at bit trying to find the words to express everything that was going on inside of her._

_All it took for her to spill everything out was the minute Ryan gave her a hug. A few tears were already welling up in her eyes; his sweet gesture just spilled them over the edge._

"_Just take your time.__"__ once he saw the tears _

"_I want to tell you so bad…I really do… I just don__'__t know how or where to start.__"_

"_It__'__s okay… I__'__ll listen.__"_

_When she finished telling his everything, he was ready to beat Troy to a pulp. _

_The image of Ryan__'__s furious face managed to make her a smile a little… she told Ryan that he didn__'__t have to do anything and even teasing him that he probably couldn__'__t beat Troy up even if he wanted too. _

_Ryan respected her wishes and was happy that he managed to make her smile even for a moment. For the whole week, Ryan looked after her…trying his best to see her happy and smiling genuinely. They managed to be even closer than they already were._

_End Flashback_

And then… Ryan asked her out. He had just asked her to be his girlfriend yesterday. She couldn't say no to him because she _did_ feel something for him in the beginning. She decided to give it a try; she wanted to, she _had_ to.

He was there for her the whole time she was hurting, he deserved a chance and she deserved a chance to get over Troy.

He was there with her when she told Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi the news of her and Troy not being friends anymore… but she only told Ryan about the part of how he was just using her.

When the three girls asked her why, she just said that she finally saw who he really was. They were happy to see that Gabriella came to her senses and saw the piece of scum Troy Bolton really was. They were ecstatic that Ryan and Gabriella were together and that Gabriella finally saw how perfect she and Ryan were for each other.

She thought Troy was different but she guessed wrong.

'_I was probably hallucinating.__'_

At the same time Gabriella became closer with Kristen, most of the girls on the cheerleading team started to see that Gabriella was someone who offered a lot to the team. Kristen would ask Gabriella opinions about routines and if she had any input. Kristen liked her ideas and the two girls got along well.

Gabriella was surprised to know that they had some things in common and they enjoyed the same things as well. Then one day she was offered something she never thought was possible… well, possible for someone like her.

_Flashback_

_Earlier in the week…_

_Gabriella was surely but slowly getting better and it didn't hurt as much when she saw Troy. Ryan being there for her helped a lot. It was now the end of cheerleading practice, Gabriella was making her way to the girls' change room but Kirsten called her over._

"_Gabriella! Can I talk to you for a minute?"_

"_Yeah, sure. What's up?"_

"_Well, I have some big news."_

"_Really? Then shouldn't the rest of the team be here to hear this?" she asked_

"_Oh, no. I mean I have big news… for you."_

"_Oh. Um, what is it? Is it bad?" she asked, slightly panicking _

"_No, it's nothing bad. Don't worry." Kristen said, chuckling lightly._

"_Oh. So…?"_

_Kristen looked up to her, her eyes shining with excitement._

"_What if I told you that I want _you_ to be co-captain of the team?"_

_End Flashback_

Gabriella was flattered that Kristen chose her and accepted the offer. Usually girls who were on the team for a long time would get that position but Gabriella got it instead, some girls were jealous but others were glad that she got it. They knew she deserved it and that Kristen picked the right person.

But since Gabriella took the offer, it meant that she had to stay after school a lot and had to deal with the basketball team so they could co-ordinate their routines properly.

Which meant that it was harder for her to ignore Troy, since he was on the basketball team.

Today was especially hard, it was the end of the week and she was tired of constantly avoiding him so today she decided to go up to the garden after practice before she went home.

'_Wow… who would have thought all that stuff would happen to me in just a week.'_

'…'

'_Am I doing the right thing avoiding him like this? Should I talk to him?'_

'…'

'_No, Gabriella.'_

'_You promised yourself.'_

Gabriella sighed and closed her eyes. Suddenly the door leading to the garden banged open causing her to jump and stand up. Looking to the direction of the sound- already having a feeling who the person was. She look at the face of the person she was afraid to bump into.

"Hey."

"Hi." she replied.

Gabriella couldn't move, she didn't know why and she didn't want to. Turning away she went back to the bench and sat down. Looking out at the view, she could feel Troy take a seat beside her.

'_What are you doing Gabriella?'_

'_Get the hell out of here. What about your promise?'_

'…'

'_Ughhhh… screw it.'_

'_I can't avoid him forever... but he has to talk first.'_

It became really quiet, both teens haven't been this close since a week and both felt a little weird.

Troy couldn't take the silence any longer so he decide to get straight to the point before Gabriella changed her mind. He was thankful that she didn't run away at the sight of him.

"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked bluntly, his voice giving away his hurt feelings.

But Gabriella mistook his tone and thought he was mad at her, when he had no right.

Gabriella glared at one of the plants in front of her, trying to control her anger.

'_How dare he! He was the one who hurt me!'_

'_I was the one who was hurt, not him. I'm suppose to be the one who's mad NOT him.' _

She was already frustrated and she couldn't hold it in. All the emotion she had bottle up in the past week, she was ready to let it all out, lash it onto someone.

"You want to know why I'm mad?" she spat out, venom in her voice.

Troy was a little shocked at her harsh tone and decided that he needed to play nice even though he was just as frustrated and confused.

"Yeah… did I do something?" he asked, so quietly that she could barely hear him.

For a second Gabriella just wanted to give him a hug and forget everything he said.

Because in that moment he sound so defeated and hurt but she ignored it and continued.

"I don't know, maybe the little conversation you had with Chad last week might answer your question?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Troy confused, it was hard for him to concentrate.

Gabriella looked over to Troy so fast and so abruptly that the bench shook, glaring at him this time. She couldn't believe it. He said all those things and now he was going to play dumb and deny it.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What? I don't understand. Tell me." he asked, still wondering what she meant.

"Okay, I heard you… so don't lie."

Troy's hurt face did not faze her and she continued, she starting off talking- telling him everything she had heard- but she ended up screaming. Troy said nothing which made her even angrier. She assumed that he really didn't care. That anything that happened between them meant absolutely nothing to him.

She didn't want him to see her cry so she focused on her anger instead of her sadness.

"Say something?!"

"What a big mess." he mumbled. What Gabriella heard was all wrong. She didn't hear the whole thing, she didn't hear the truth.

"I guess I was wrong about you. I thought you were different…but I guess I was wrong. You're just a typical jock. I'm such an idiot.

"I should have listened to Sharpay and Taylor, they were right about you. And I defended you, I fucking defended you. I said that you couldn't be that bad. What was I thinking? Thinking I could be friends with someone like y-" but she didn't get to finish her sentence.

She was so caught up that she didn't notice Troy inching closer and closer to her face until it was too late. Until he kissed her.

Gabriella was caught _so_ off guard, she could not react, it took her a moment to realise that Troy was ACTUALLY kissing her and another moment to realise that he was a really good kisser and another moment for her to realise what she was doing and another for her to get angry again.

"What- what the hell was that?" she said, pushing him a away from her

Troy pulled back, he was hoping for a better reaction. He knew that Gabriella had some feeling towards him and that maybe this kiss would open her eyes and make her realise that he felt the same way too.

He thought that maybe the kiss would fix this big misunderstanding. Troy knew he wouldn't be able to find the words let alone speak to explain everything at the moment.

To explain how everything was wrong that none of what she had heard was true, he thought the kiss would tell her that he was sorry and that he would do anything to go back to the way they were. But he knew that was expecting too much.

"If you didn't know, I have a boyfriend. You know, Ryan? What possessed you to do that?" she said, standing up from the bench walking backwards away from him.

Troy had heard about that but he didn't want to believe it. But now when she said it, it felt like a punch to the stomach… it hurt.

'_I guess the gossip at East High was right, for once.' he thought bitterly_

"I have to get out of here." she said, making her way towards the stairs.

"Wait; give me a chance to explain." he called out, finding his voice.

Gabriella turned around, sighing. She knew she had to finish this or else he wouldn't stop.

"You know what Troy. I really don't care anymore; you can say or do whatever you want. Whatever. I'm done."

"This…" she gestured her hand to herself and Troy "was a mistake from the beginning, were too different."

"It would have never worked." she added, she didn't know if she was talking about their friendship or the relationship that could have been. Maybe both.

"Just… stop. Just please stop trying, okay? Let's forget anything happened. You were doing fine without me then, it won't be any different now." she said, she wasn't as mad anymore just tired and ready to move on.

Troy didn't know what to say, he was never put in this position before. He was speechless, he wanted to tell her so many things but he couldn't. He could tell that Gabriella clearly didn't want to talk him anymore and it was hurting her. When he still didn't say anything Gabriella again made her way to the stairs.

Troy panicked and scrambled to think of something to say, anything at all before she walked away.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too." she said pausing at the top of the stairs, looking over her shoulder one last time.


	9. I'm Not Ready

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the REALLY late update. My computer had a virus and I had to get it re-booted and then all this other stuff kept happening… and yeah. **

**Well here it is. Enjoy :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.**

Chapter 9

"I'm so sorry Kristen, but I can't do this anymore. It's not me, it never was."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive."

"The team will really miss you, Gaby."

Gabriella gave her a look that said otherwise.

"Okay, fine maybe _I'll _only miss you." Kristen said, chuckling lightly

Gabriella smiled back.

There. She did it. What a load off her shoulders.

Even if the girls wouldn't miss her Gabriella knew she would remember the experience she had with the team, despite the bitchy-ness from some of the girls.

The only person she would miss was Kristen. They had become really good friends over the past few weeks and Gabriella hoped they would stay that way even if she wasn't on the team.

In the end she decided that cheerleading was definitely not her. So she quit, to the disappointment of Kristen.

"I hate you, you know." said Kristen, jokingly.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. You're leaving me to defend for myself against the three hooker wannabes." said Kristen, referring to Sammie, Kayla and Tammy.

"Your right, you poor thing. But you'll survive, all you have to do is acknowledge their presence- no wait, their very excistence and they'll follow your every beck and call." she said, grinning.

"Yeah, right."

"Trust me. I know, so does everyone else. They are desperate to please you."

"Well, who wouldn't? I mean… look at me! I'm hot." said Kristen, with smirk on her face.

"Ha, ha, ha. Don't get cocky now." she said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Ha, not even. It's just confidence besides cocky is more like Tro-"

"Don't even say the name." she warned.

"What?" Kristen asked innocently, pretending not to know what Gabriella was talking about.

Kristen eventually found out about Troy and Gabriella's situation. Gabriella knew that she couldn't hide everything from Kristen, there was no point- she was best friends with Troy after all. So Gabriella thought that she might as well tell her the truth rather than she hear it from school gossip.

"Don't 'what?' me and give me that innocent look, it won't work. I know what you're trying to do."

"I didn't even say anything."

"But you were."

"I wasn't."

"You're going to."

"I'm not, promise."

"Lies!" she said, laughing.

"Oh come on Gabriella. Don't you think the boy has suffered enough? All he does is sigh all day and stare off into space like some retard. It's really pathetic and the basketball team is starting to notice. Just talk to him, give him another chance. He thinks you don't want to talk to him."

"Uh, that's because I don't! Besides, its not my fault he can't move on."

"He's not the only who hasn't moved on either, you haven't. Don't bother lying to me or yourself; you know you want to talk to him. You're not ready to move on, because if you did, talking to him wouldn't be a big deal. You WANT him to explain because you miss him, you WANT to give him another chance."

"Okay fine… I do miss him. But I'm not going to ask him to explain. Why do I have to try, I was the one who was hurt."

"Well, you know he would be here in a second crawling on his knees begging for forgiveness if you didn't tell him to leave you alone. Troy doesn't want to lose you completely that's the only reason why he's backing off, he's giving you space because you ASKED him too, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"So, basically it's your fault."

"Thanks for reminding me." she said sarcastically

"He misses you, you know."

Gabriella didn't reply.

"When he thinks no-one is watching he's always looking over at you."

Gabriella was aware of that and tried her best to ignore him.

"You miss him too Gabriella and I know that you… like him."

"What? No, I don't. I have Ryan, you know that."

"I know but you did like him and I know you still do even if you won't admit it to yourself."

Gabriella didn't say anything. '_Damn it, she's right.'_

She thought dating Ryan would help and it did but only for so long. She knew that deep down inside she still liked Troy and there was nothing she could do about it.

She just wanted to forget about him, everything about him. But with Kristen telling her all these things… it wasn't helping.

"He likes you too."

Gabriella also knew this but she didn't want to believe it. She wanted it for so long but now she couldn't accept it. Why didn't he just say something earlier? But then again it was better she heard his conversation with Chad before she spilled her feelings to him.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're so stubborn to see what's already in front of you. Besides, who else is? Troy can't because you're ignoring him, so I had to. For him."

Gabriella knew about Kristen and Troy's situation and found it pretty funny which Kristen did not appreciate. When she thought about it, she was jealous over something that wasn't even true or remotely close. It was pretty embarrassing now that she considered it. In a way she was secretly relieved that Kristen and Troy weren't going out.

"He's my best friend, so I can't really bash him like you do… not all the time anyways. Plus, if he was in my position and trying to help a friend in a messed up situation like this, he would do the same for me. Well I'd like to think he would." She said jokingly

Kristen knew the WHOLE truth but she felt it was Troy's place to tell Gabriella, she wanted the two to work it out by themselves. She knew they would eventually make up, some how, some way.

"Just think about it." Kristen added.

Gabriella paused. Was she really ready to take Troy back?

"Whatever. What's done is done. End of conversation."

* * *

News of Gabriella quitting the cheerleading spread but no-one really seemed to care or mind and Gabriella was thankful for that.

Gabriella soon found herself back on the scholastic decathlon team and the arts team, realising that this was where she belonging and she preferred this than cheerleading.

Yes, she did enjoy cheerleading and it was fun but it wasn't her. She had long accepted that cheerleading was not the answer.

Gabriella wasn't a cheerleader… she was meant to be something else. She didn't know what but she was okay with that, she had plenty of time to figure that out.

Now with some of her stress out of the way she wanted to finally have fun. And she did.

The expression "time flies when you're having fun" proved right, before she knew it a week passed and then another and another, soon everyone at school had pretty much forgotten about her.

She wasn't on the cheerleading team anymore; she wasn't the new girl either so there was nothing to talk about.

Soon the gossip surrounding her had died down, it went as quickly as it came.

All those people who wanted to be her friend when she was popular suddenly disappeared.

She made a lot of friends during her time on the cheerleading spot but once she quit half of them stopped talking to her… now only a few acknowledged her but it was nothing more than a hi and a bye

She was happy to know that at least one person from the popular group talked to her and that was Kristen. The two girls were still close, and would talk and hang out after school.

Gabriella preferred it that way because that meant noisy people at school wouldn't start spreading gossip. She wanted to stay out of that.

Slowly her life began to be normal again; life continued the way it was before Gabriella joined the team.

At the same time things in her life changed but she knew it was for the better.

For one she and Ryan broke up. Shocker?

She wanted to believe that Troy wasn't the reason but she couldn't deny that part of it was because she still liked Troy. No matter how many times she tried to convince herself she knew it was the truth.

The reason for the break up was that there was no spark.

Sure, Ryan and Gabriella had chemistry but not together as a couple. They were better off as friends.

When they kissed or held hands neither got the feeling that your suppose to get.

What they had mistaken as attraction had been nothing more than care.

They cared for each other but just as friends, they both thought it was something else but both were wrong.

So they broke up with no hard feelings.

_Flashback_

_2 weeks ago…_

_The moment they kissed, Gabriella had been expecting fireworks or something, anything at all but when they did… she felt nothing. Nothing at all. Not like how Troy kissed her…_

_In that moment she knew that Ryan and her weren't meant to be together. _

_No matter how bad she wanted it to work; there was nothing she could do about it. _

_Ryan was everything she could have wanted, he was sweet and charming and the fact that he was cute didn't hurt… but it wasn't enough. _

_Ryan was good for her but apparently she belonged to someone else. _

_Someone who made her nervous, someone who knew how to make her blush with just one look, someone who pushed her buttons, someone she already knew but didn't want to admit. _

_Ryan never made her nervous, gave her butterflies, make her blush in embarrassment. Not the way Troy made her feel. _

_She cursed herself every time she thought about it. What was wrong with her? Why was she so attracted to someone who made her feel like that?_

_Ryan was safe. She was comfortable with Ryan, he was there for her. He was there to talk to when she needed help, he was like a… brother. No matter how much she wished she didn't see him like that she knew it would never happen._

_Wouldn't girls kill for a guy like that? But for some reason she didn't want that… she wanted _him_. _

_No matter what she did, everything she did was because of him. _

_She didn't want to admit it but she had already fallen for Troy. _

_She was just too stubborn to admit it._

_Now there was nothing she could do but break up with one of the sweetest guys she knew, so she called him up to meet at the local park._

_Ryan knew. He just knew. Gabriella wanted to break up with him. _

_He couldn't blame her, he wasn't the only who didn't feel "the spark" or whatever your suppose to feel when you kiss someone. _

_He didn't want to admit it but he felt nothing either. _

_He thought Gabriella was 'the girl', 'the one' but it looked like he was wrong. _

_He kind of had a feeling who Gabriella should belong with and the thought made him want to puke but there was nothing he could do. _

_You can't help how you feel about someone… no matter who they are._

"_Hey." said a voice. _

"_Hey."_

_He felt her sit down on the bench beside him. There was an awkward silence and both of them hated it, there was never an awkward silence with the two of them but she decided to break it._

"_I don't know where to start, so I'll just say it. I think-"_

"_We should break up." he said finishing for her._

_There was another pause._

"_I'm sorry." she said, her voice breaking. He turned to look at her, she was close to tears. In an instant he had his arms around her, comforting her._

"_Don't be. You can't help how you feel about him."_

"_What?" she said, abruptly taking her head off his shoulder, sitting up and looking at him._

"_You breaking up with me, so you can be with him." he said, Ryan didn't have to say the name for Gabriella to understand._

"_No, don't ever think that. I'm not choosing him over you. I would never do something like that to you." she said, her eyes flashing._

"_Gabi, you don't have to lie to me. Please don't, I know you and its okay. Really it is."_

"_Ryan, he's not the reason. Okay fine, maybe but just a part. Not the whole thing, remember that."_

"_Okay, fine. But seriously I understand its okay with me."_

"_I think you've known for a while that this wasn't working because your not yelling at me or freaking out right now." she said, deliberately ignoring the comment that Ryan was okay with the fact she liked Troy when she couldn't even admit it to herself._

"_Yeah, I kind of felt like there was…nothing. Don't get me wrong, you're amazing it's just that we didn't feel right together. I thought we were but I guess everyone makes mistakes." he said, letting it slide that she was ignoring the topic about Troy. Realising his comment, his eyes went wide._

"_Not-that-you-were-a-mistake-or-that-our-relationship-was-a-mistake.-I-would-never-think-that-way-really-I'm-sorry." he said in a rush._

"_I know you didn't mean that, Ryan." she replied, laughing at how adorable he looked. His pained expression changed and soon he was laughing with her._

_They talked for a while, both happy that nothing had changed. _

"_So you're not mad? We're good? " she asked_

"_Nope. We're good." he replied, smiling. She gave him a hug and he hugged her back._

"_You mean so much to me, Ryan. I don't know what I would do if you were mad at me." she said, pulling away._

"_I could never be mad at you."_

"_That's good to know."_

_There was a comfortable silence before Ryan decided to bring up the subject. Ryan knew it was painful for her but he also knew this was a chance for him to help her be truly happy no matter how much he resented the guy. _

_He had to try to get Gabriella to give Troy a chance. _

_She deserved to be happy and if Troy was the reason, then so be it._

_Ryan sighed and decided to take the plunge._

"_I think you should talk to him."_

"_Oh my god. You too? Geez what is wrong with everyone? Is there a campaign to get Gabi and Troy together or something? I mean come on people, not working. Never will."_

_Ryan gave her a look, that said she was crazy, wondering what she was going on about._

"_Sorry, it's just- okay, first it was Kristen. She was all like he misses you, he likes you, give him a second chance. And now… and now its you too. I mean come on Ryan, we just broke up and now you're setting me up with someone. Are you feeling okay? Why is every-"_

"_Gabi calm down. I just said that you should talk to him. Hear him out, you never really let him explain."_

_Gabriella paused; she didn't know what to do. She wanted to forgive, she wanted to talk to him but she couldn't get the nerve too. She wasn't ready._

"_I don't know…"_

_Ryan sighed. He knew that she was afraid but he also knew it was mostly because she was stubborn._

"_You know sometimes you're really stubborn."_

"_Hey! That's not true. I'm just not ready."_

"_Yeah, that's called being stubborn."_

"_I am not."_

"_Are too."_

"_Am not."_

"_Are too."_

"_Am no- oh just shut up Ryan."_

_Ryan gave her a smirk, knowing he got her._

"_Wipe that stupid smirk off your face. You look ugly doing that." she said, narrowing her eyes._

_Ryan's smirk just became bigger; he knew he had hit a sore spot._

"_I'll talk to him when I'm ready."_

_End Flashback_

Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi were a little disappointed that Gabriella and Ryan broke up and didn't understand why they broke up. They tried to explain to the girls that they were just better off as friends and they seemed to understand.

She was back to her true herself and she liked it. Yet she couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

* * *

Soon, before they knew it school was ending. Seniors were all stressed out but were none the less excited; the thought of graduation coming up and prom brought everyone into a frenzy.

Ryan and Kristen, the only two people who fully knew about Gabriella's situation and feelings, repeatedly tried to get Gabriella to talk to Troy but she would just side step the topic or make up some excuse that she wasn't ready.

Ryan knew that she was lying to herself and trying to deny the truth. He knew that she would never be ready. She was just too stubborn.

He knew he had to do something.

When they broke up he thought of a plan to get Gabriella and Troy together but he never thought he would use it. He thought it was stupid at the time but now he was desperate, and he had no choice.

He needed an accomplice to pull off his plan. He didn't know if he could trust Sharpay, Taylor or Kelsi so he went to the only person who knew the truth.

"Hey Kristen."

"Hey, Ryan, right?"

"Yeah."

"What's up?"

"Well, I trust it that you know all about the Troy and Gabriella problem."

"Oh, I know alright."

"Well, then you know how bad the current situation is between the two."

"Oh my god, you have no idea. Troy keeps me informed daily about how much he misses her, sometimes I want to strangle him. But Gabriella on the other hand doesn't like talking about him… at all actually." said Kristen, frowning a little.

Ryan watched as she talked. _'Wow…she really _is _pretty.' _

'_I doubt someone like her would never go for me.' Ryan's eyes widening at the thought_

Kristen looked at Ryan, with a curious look when she saw him making a weird face.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Just remembering something. No big deal." he said, quickly.

"O…Kay."

"So…" She started, filling in the silence since Ryan was still trying to recover.

"So…" he said, mimicking her. _'Just say it already.' he thought._

"…I have a plan."

"A plan?"

"Yup."

"What sort of plan?"

"A get Troy and Gabi together plan." he said with a mischievous smile.

'_Awwh, he's pretty cute… in a shy guy kind of way. Never looked at guys like him before. Hmmm, not bad, not bad at all…' _

Unlike Ryan, Kristen managed to hide what she was thinking.

'_Geez, where did that come from? Oh god, I think hanging out with Gabriella for too long is getting to me.' she thought jokingly._

"I like the way you think." she said, replying with a mischievous smile of her own.

'_Gabriella will have no idea what hit her'_

* * *

_**A/N: The next chapter will be the last chapter :(  
**_

_**Thanks to everyone for sticking with me this far :) **__**I really appreciate it.**_


	10. Call Him Mine

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM or any HSM characters.**

**A/N: I'm SO sorry for the incredibly late update. I FINALLY found the time to finish my first story ****:) ****Thanks to all the readers, reviewers, everyone who put my story on alert or favourites and those who put me on their favourite list and author alert list. Thank you, it meant a lot to know that people didn't think my story sucked, lol.**

**The title of the story is from a song but this story is ****not**** based on it. The song is "Call Him Mine" by Tata Young. Oh, I don't own this song either.**

**Anyways, here's the last chapter. I made it long. Thanks for reading and enjoy :) **

Chapter 10

Failure.

His plan- more like the many failed attempts- to get Gabriella and Troy together weren't working. He was all but ready to give up and Kristen was getting frustrated. She made it very clear she wanted to give up as well when she told Ryan to meet up with her after school in the gym and yelled at him, venting her frustration at the situation.

"What happened to your _great _plan?!" she yelled, her voice echoing in the huge gym. She didn't even wait for Ryan to reply.

"Oh wait- there wasn't just _one_ freaking plan but at least a million others. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. We don't have much time you know. Prom is two weeks away and soon it will be graduation and if Gabriella and Troy don't resolve things it's going to be your entire fault! You and your stupid failed plans. I mean, come on, how the hell did you plan to get the two together by making them do the school musical? Ridiculous I tell you, ridiculous!" she yelled dramatically, she couldn't help it.

Ryan just stood there listening to her rant.

'_How is everything my fault? What the hell is her problem? Does she expect me to take the blame?' he thought, annoyed._

"Well do _you_ have a better plan?! I don't need you yelling at me and acting like such a brat. Do you think this its easy for me to make up these plans? You don't even appreciate the trouble I went to creating those plans. And you know what?! You shouldn't even be talking, you haven't given any suggestions! _I _took the responsibility, _you_ didn't." he said bitterly.

Kristen stared at Ryan, stunned by his reaction. She never expected Ryan to sound so cold; in fact no one at school would ever talk to her like that. Silence took over as the two blonds glared at each other slightly before Kristen caved.

"You-you're right… I'm sorry, I didn't _mean_ to yell at you." she said shamefully, as she made her way to the bleachers and sat down.

"It's just that I really want the two of them to get together and its frustrating knowing they might not because of us." she added, looking over to Ryan.

"I know." he replied.

"If only Gabriella wasn't so damn stubborn we wouldn't even be in this mess."

They thought it would be easy getting Gabriella and Troy together but it was actually… really hard. Luck wasn't on their side.

"Anyways, prom is coming up and…" he started

"Yeah?"

"Well… Gabriella asked me to go with her."

"What?!"

"Just as friends. It's not a big deal."

"But it _is_ a big deal. If Troy found out… he'll be so jealous." she said. Ryan thought she was joking. Ryan didn't even reply to her comment, he was laughing so hard his eyes were watering up.

"Troy… jealous? Of me? Yeah right." he replied. The thought of Troy Bolton actually being jealous of him, Ryan Evans was hard to believe.

"Well, you got the girl. He didn't."

"Yeah but he had her from the start, I was just in the way." he said.

"No, you were never in the way. You were there for her when she needed a friend, a shoulder to lean on. You didn't mess things up; you helped her through it."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Ryan groaned, remembering their problem.

"Why oh why did your best friend have to mess everything up by opening his big mouth?" he complained.

Kristen chuckled lightly. "You know Troy didn't mean those words. It was just all a misunderstanding. I told you this already… Gabriella didn't hear the whole conversation between Chad and Troy."

"I know… I feel so helpless though. Couldn't we just tell her the truth?" he asked.

"No, because I think it's better if Troy told her. We weren't there, so we don't know what really happened. To fully convince her, someone who was actually there during the conversation should tell her." she replied.

"Okay, let's hope your right." he said, sighing. Taking a seat beside her, both their shoulders touching slightly.

There was silence again both lost in their own thoughts until Kristen shrieked in his ear.

"What the hell woman?! Are you trying to make me deaf?" he yelled.

"Oops, sorry." she said. "But oh my god! I have the perfect plan." she added, smiling mischievously.

* * *

_2 weeks later._

This was it. Tonight was Prom Night! It was a night to make new memories and relive old ones and everyone was excited. Gabriella and her friends were no exception, she had found the perfect dress and couldn't wait.

She was finally graduating and going to prom, something she thought would be impossible. Gabriella assumed that when the time came she wouldn't be able to attend her senior prom because of her mom's company. Now those were far away thoughts as she got ready. Slipping on her dress and putting her curly hair up in sexy messy up-do, she felt nothing could ruin her night. Next she put on her make-up, basic eyeliner and mascara on her long, thick eyelashes making them standout even more.

Ryan was picking her up in just a few minutes, along with Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi. Ryan and Sharpay suggested that they should use their limo. Taylor, Kelsi and Gabriella protested that it really wasn't necessary but the twins ignored them- convincing them it was okay. Besides they couldn't say no to Sharpay.

Gabriella looked at the clock in her bedroom.

'_They should be here any minute now.'_

A second later she heard the limo honk.

"Gabriella the limo's here!" Her mom called.

'_Right on time.'_

She slipped on her gold heels and grabbed her small gold clutch.

"I'll be there in a second!"

Taking one more glance in the mirror, she couldn't help but beam. She had to admit she looked pretty good.

She quickly applied some lip gloss and then made her way downstairs. '_This is it. Prom here I come.'_

* * *

After taking a million pictures- her mother insisted- they finally reached the hotel where prom was being held.

Arriving in style, the five friends linked arms and made their way into the ball room, they were in awe at how beautiful everything looked. They, of course, all looked fabulous.

Sharpay was wearing a silver halter-top dress with a plunging v-neck. The halter top part was covered in some type of stones or beads which stopped right under the bust and fitted her nicely. From under the bust down the rest of the dress flowed down to touch the floor. Her hair was in her trade-mark blonde locks, curly and styled to perfection.

Kelsi decided to wear a spaghetti strap (about two fingers in width) dark blue dress that ended above her knees. The dark blue contrasted nicely with her light skin nicely. The dress was tight showing off her curves. Her hair was in a sleek pony-tail, the ends slightly curled. Taylor was wearing a strapless gold dress that hugged her bust and showed off her body and flowed down, stopping under her knees. Her hair was done up in pretty curls.

The girls were so in awe, they didn't notice Kristen secretly wink at Ryan. It was code for everything was ready and set up. Now all they had to do was wait for the moment to come and it was driving Ryan crazy.

'_Please god, let this work. I'm begging you here. If this doesn't work…' _Ryan thought.

Meanwhile, Kristen was also nervous but trying to keep a calm face.

'_If this doesn't work… I would be preventing Gabriella from having true happiness and then she'll be one of those angry bitter women who hate love and resent all that mushy stuff. If this doesn't work I would ruin her love life and her future relationships, marriages and children…' _Kristen's face paled at the thought. '_Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap. CRAP. Not good. NOT. GOOD. Great, now I'm hyperventilating. Okay… breathe Kristen. In. Out.' _

At the same time Ryan was trying to get rid of his nerves, he tried not to anticipate the worst.

'_I'm over reacting. I just need to calm down. Yeah… that's it just… calm down. Nothing to worry about. No pressure.'_

"Ryan? Ryan! Helloooo? Anyone there? RYAN!" called a voice.

"What, huh? What?"

"Are you okay?" she asked

"Yeah, sorry Gaby I just… spaced out."

"You're always spacing out. Anyways, let's go find our table!" she said, motioning to one of the tables.

"Yeah, let's go." he replied, trying to make sure his voice sounded calm.

Before they could go in, she pulled him aside.

"Wait, first… do I look okay?" she asked shyly. She asked Ryan because she knew he would tell her the truth.

Taking a second to check, he approved. Pushing a piece of hair that was in her face, he gave her a smile.

She really did look beautiful. If she had that kind of effect on him- someone who no longer didn't have any romantic feelings for her. Then Troy's was going to go crazy.

"Now your ready."

* * *

His eyes just about popped out of his eye sockets the minute he saw her. To him she looked that good. The way he looked at her was like a boy who was whipped. He had it bad for her. He just wished she felt the same way. Little did he know, she did.

She was wearing a red dress that went all the way down to the floor and hugged her body. (A/N: Ironic really, since Gabriella in my story dislikes East High colours.) It fit her perfectly; no one else could have pulled it off as well as her. (A/N: Picture that dress Vanessa Hudgens wore to the High School Musical 2 LA Premiere and where Zac Efron was wearing that really light pale blue shirt and grey pants.)

Watching Ryan tuck a curl behind her ear and watching Gabriella link arms with him to walk to their assigned table made Troy a little jealous. '_I'm suppose to be that guy with her. I thought they broke up?'_

His thoughts were pushed aside as Troy heard his name being called.

"Troy! Dude, you're always spacing out nowadays. Come on, we're gonna find our table." said Chad.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah- Let's go." He said, following the group.

He met up with his date. Kristen. Just like Ryan and Gabriella, the two were going together as friends.

"Well, well, well don't you look nice for once." said Kristen, jokingly.

"Ha. I can say the same for you." he replied.

"Hmmm, trying to impress someone I see." said Kristen, ignoring his remark.

"Nahhh."

"Riiiight. Okay, there buddy." she replied, raising one eyebrow. She could tell he was lying from the light blush on his cheeks.

"Come on, everyone's waiting." he said clearing his throat, ignoring Kristen's comment and followed the group. Leaving Kristen to catch up with an amused look on her face.

'_He has it bad.'_

* * *

The music was blasting and laughter was in the air. The graduating class of East High was enjoying their time, dancing the night away. Now came the time to announce Prom King and Queen…

Many students already knew who was going to win but were none the less excited.

"East High's 2008 Prom King is… none other than Troy Bolton!" announced Mr Matsui.

Cheers erupted loudly from the room. No surprise there. Of course Troy Bolton would be prom king, it was only fitting.

'_Crap.' _he thought, he knew he would win. He just hated the part where he had to walk up to the stage and stand there in front of his classmates. It was flattering but it was something he wasn't really comfortable with.

As he stood on the stage, his eyes scanned through the crowd. Looking for that one person he really wanted to impress.

'_She _has_ to notice me now…'_

He continued to look desperately but he still couldn't find her anywhere in the room.

'_Where is she?'_

* * *

Gabriella sighed.

This was supposed to be a fun night. And she _was_ having a really good time at first but then… but then she HAD to notice him looking cuter than ever. She HAD to notice him having fun with his friends. She HAD to notice the glances he would give her and let it get to her.

When she saw him, all these thoughts came flooding back. Her hopes of forgiving him and becoming more than friends bothered her. She was sure she had let all those feelings go.

That's why precisely at this moment she was not in the ball room but up on the roof, trying to calm down.

She left the table, making up some excuse about needing to go to the washroom and quickly made her way out of the ball room trying to get out as fast as she could. She decided to explore and just walk around the hotel until she ended up on the roof.

She knew that if she went back, she would have to go through Troy Bolton being announced as Prom King and she didn't know if she could handle it. That's why for the time being she decided to stay up here.

Little did she know as she was calming down, two blondes were freaking out.

* * *

"… Gabriella Montez!" Gasps were heard all around. Mostly from the girls.

'_Where is she?'_

Troy continued to search, almost not realising what was currently happening that was causing commotion in the crowd.

'_Wait. WHAT?!'_

"Congratulations to the both of you!" said Mr. Matsui into the microphone but noticed that Gabriella wasn't walking to the stage.

"Uhmmm. East High's 2008 Prom Queen… Gabriella Montez!" Mr Matsui said, announcing it to the crowd once more.

Still a petite brunette girl was no where to be seen. Everyone was looking around the room, the chatter in the crowd getting louder.

'_No. Way.' _He thought but inside he wanted to do a little happy dance. If Gabriella was Prom Queen and he was Prom King then it would give him a chance to talk to her and hopefully explain.

"Okay everyone quiet down. Settle down." Mr. Matsui said, trying to calm down the students- which wasn't working. "Gabriella Montez? Is Ms. Montez here?" The principal called out again, confused this time.

Still no one came to the stage.

'_Where is she? What if something happened to her?' _At that thought panic set in and he knew he had to find her.

In a second Troy was off the stage, running toward the exit of the ball room. As he made his way through the crowd, he ignored the calls from his friends and classmates.

'_I have to find her.'_

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Through the chaos, two blondes managed to find each other.

"That was your _plan_?! Make her East High's _freaking _Prom Queen?!" Ryan yelled frantically.

"Well… it WOULD have worked if YOU just kept an eye on GABRIELLA!" Kristen yelled back, as she poked him in the chest every time she emphasized a word.

The two continued to glare at each other but then Kristen gave up first and showed the disappointment and frustration they were both feeling as her eyes watered up.

"Its okay, its okay." he said calmly

"No, it's NOT okay Ryan."

"We can still try, it's not over yet. We can still try and find Gabriella and just force her to talk to Troy. It's the only thing we can do. Don't give up just yet." he said, trying to encourage her.

Kristen looked up to his face and stared back, holding his gaze.

"Yeah, okay." she managed to croak out, nodding numbly.

"Okay, let's go."

He grabbed a hold of her hand and led them both out the ball room, ignoring the crowd that formed around them while they were arguing. Ignoring the stares and comments. Ignoring the calls from their friends who were wondering what was going on. They didn't care cause at that moment none of that was important.

Actually, the whole school was also wondering what was happening.

Gabriella Montez a certified nerd, who was once a cheerleader and is now basically a nobody at East High, was Prom Queen? And Troy Bolton, Prom King, the golden boy of East High suddenly leaving the stage? Was that suppose to mean something? And Kristen McCall and Ryan Evans? Kristen and Ryan?! Can you say random?

What the HELL is going on?!

No one knew but Chad was determined to find out.

* * *

She didn't know how long she was up here but she didn't care. It was nice up here and didn't notice time flying by.

'_I guess I lost track.' _she thought, once she realised the time.

Making her way to the door, it suddenly opened revealing the last person she thought would find her.

"Gabriella."

"Chad." Suddenly raising her guard, she didn't trust him. How could she? After hearing that conversation between him and Troy.

'_What is he doing up here? Why is he even talking to me?'_

"What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously

"Everyone's looking for you."

"Crap. Sharpay is probably freaking but I just came up here to…" she started to say- momentarily forgetting to act cold. Realising that Chad probably didn't even care, she just shut her mouth.

"Uh… by everyone I don't mean your friends, I mean the school." he said awkwardly, once she stopped.

"What are you talking about? Why would they be looking for me?" she asked, curious and still confused.

"Because you're Prom Queen." he said, letting the words hang in the air.

'_WHAT? Yeah, right. Seriously? I mean- No. No-effing-way. This has got to be some mean, twisted joke. I haven't done shit to him and now he thinks he can just-' _Gabriella stopped herself before she could lose it.

"Is this some sick joke of yours to embarrass me or something? Cause if it is you can cut the bullshit. I don't believe you." She spat, glaring at him.

"No, its not."

"Ha, and why should I trust you?"

Chad sighed; this was going to be harder than he thought.

"Your right. You have no reason to." he said, solemnly.

There was silence; Gabriella was not expecting that reaction. Was this some sort of an apology? She thought he was going to say more but he didn't.

She had so many questions running through her head; she didn't know where to start.

"Okay. First question. How did you find me?"

"Well, I know about how you and Troy and the… garden on the roof of the school and I just assumed that you-"

"Would be on the roof as well. That's smart, even I wouldn't have thought of that."

Realizing she had just complemented him and he started to smirk, she quickly went to the second question.

"Second. Why are _you _looking for me? You're the last person I would expect to search for me." Her guard rising again.

"I know-"

"Its not like we're friends or anything." she said bluntly, cutting him off. Gabriella was expecting him to comeback with an insult.

"I guess I deserve that."

"Yes. Yes, you did." she replied, feeling a little grin tug on her lips.

"Okay, you know what there's no point of beating around the bush, so I might as well just do it."

"Do what?"

"Tell you the truth."

And so he proceeded to do so, leaving nothing out.

* * *

"Where is she? We've been looking for a while now and well… we haven't found her yet. I mean, this hotel can't be _that _big." Kristen sighed, she really didn't want to admit this but she had no choice.

"I think we need backup."

"Backup?" asked Ryan.

"Yes, backup."

"And who exactly is backup? If you're suggesting Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi then I think that would be a mistake cause they don't know what's really happening with Gabriella and Troy."

"I know… but Chad does."

Ryan stared at her in disbelief.

"WHAT?!" he yelled.

"I know, I know, I know. You must be thinking, Chad?! What the fuck does this have to do with him?! But-"

"Damn straight." he interrupted

"But before this plan… I sort of had another one… which included Chad." She proceeded to say.

"So Chad knows _everything_?"

"Everything."

"Holy Shit."

"Yup, but the bastard didn't want to be part of the plan." She muttered.

"Figures." He said but his eyes widened a second later.

"What if he tells people?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I made sure he wouldn't."

"And how did you make him promise not to tell anyone?"

"You don't want to know."

That comment bothered Ryan but he let it slide… for now.

"But were not _that _desperate, so I don't think we need him."

"Ryan… we are _that _desperate, okay? So forget about your pride and think about Gabriella." she scoffed.

"Fine. But what makes you think he's willing to help us?" he grumbled.

"You know, a little black mail goes a LONG way. That's how I made him promise not to tell anyone what he knows." she said, an evil smirk on her face.

"And what exactly do you have on him?" he asked, curious to know what dirt she had on the 'lunkhead'.

"Let's just say that Troy isn't the only who has a crush on a certain nerdette."

"Chad likes Gabriella?! WHAT?" he asked shocked.

"No, you silly boy. I'm talking about Taylor."

"Oh."

"Anyways let's go find him."

'_Chad likes Taylor? Who knew.' _(Yeah, we all saw THAT coming, lol.)

* * *

"Gabriella?"

She stared at him in disbelief.

"I-I had no idea." she replied, once she could find her voice.

"Yeah… I know it's a lot to handle but I just want to say I-I'm…err… sorry. Sorry for uhh… everything. Troy has been a mess and distracted ever since you and him… and yeah. I thought you should know what really happened." he said, trying hard to explain himself.

Gabriella swallowed and took a deep breathe before replying to his apology.

"That was probably hard for you to do and I can tell you're sorry so I accept your apology. Just so you know… I don't think it's your fault. You didn't mean for this to happen. It was all just a big misunderstanding." breathing normally once she was finished.

"That's… good to know. Thanks." he said meaning it and grinning slightly.

"Your welcome." she replied, nicely.

They stood together in an awkward silence before Chad broke it.

"So what are you waiting for? Go get him." He said, with an amused grin on his face

Gabriella laughed and gave him a smile. Just as she was about to open the door she turned around.

"How do you know everything?" she asked.

"Kristen." he replied.

"Kristen? How- what?"

"That's not important right now, you can yell at her later for telling me. Just go find him."

"Thanks Chad." she said, genuinely smiling at him.

He simply nodded in return.

* * *

Seconds later she was racing down the stairs, hoping to find Troy. She was nervous as hell. She didn't know what she would say or do when she saw him. She was still trying to process what Chad told her.

Troy wasn't using her.

None of the hurtful words she had heard were true. The intent behind his words wasn't what she thought they were. He wasn't trying to hurt her.

He didn't mean them.

He wasn't using her on purpose, he was… defending her.

Troy really did care about her and their friendship.

'_It was all a misunderstanding.'_

And that was all she needed to convince her to give him another chance, to give _them_ a chance. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. And now that she knew everything she wanted him to know.

She didn't know where she was in the hotel; she just kept running and running, looking through hallways, and passing-well at least she thought a million halls, desperate to find him.

Turning into one hallway she finally saw him; his back turned, walking slowly at the end of the hall.

Once she saw him she stopped, panting trying to catch her breathe.

What was she suppose to say?

What if she made a fool out of herself? Did he still want her? Would he forgive her?

'…_.'_

'_Screw it.'_

'_It's now or never.' _(A/N: And yes I got that from the song. Yeah I know totally cheesy but I couldn't help it. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you guys should check it out. It's called "Now or Never" from the up coming HM3. There you go Disney, I'm advertising your movie… for _free_.)

"Troy!" she yelled

He stopped walking and slowly turned around. Trying to figure out if his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Gabriella?" He said, looking at the figure at the other end of the hallway. Realising it was really her; he quickly made his way toward her, walking in long strides.

'_What do I say? How do I start?' he thought._

Gabriella didn't wait for him to reach her, she ran to him, forgetting what she was going to say and just went with whatever she was feeling. And at this moment she was feeling a lot of emotions.

She ran to him, suddenly jumping on him, into his arms and putting her legs around his waist, hugging him tight. He stumbled at the impact but he managed to regain his balance and not fall.

"Gabriella? Wha-what-"

"Shhh, I know." she interrupted him.

"You know? Wha-"

"I know… everything." she said, her eyes shining but then Troy realised that her eyes were watering up.

Without waiting for his reply, she kissed him with everything she had. She kissed him until she couldn't breathe.

Pulling away, she closed her eyes, too scared to look at him_. 'Just do it' she thought._

"I'm sorry…" she started off, biting her lip nervously.

After that she couldn't stop the words for spilling out.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I didn't know. I should have heard you out instead of acting like a total drama queen. I should have listened to you explain. I'm sorry for acting rash and melodramatic. I'm sorry for being so damn stubborn but it's who I am. I wanted to forget being so selfish and give you another chance but I couldn't. I wouldn't. Because I'm so damn stubborn. And I couldn-"

Troy quickly silenced her with a short kiss, pulling away her eyes were now open and he saw that she really was sorry.

"I know, I know you are."

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"Its okay baby, I know. I know."

* * *

"I don't think we should be watching this." said Ryan turning to his companions at the moment.

"Guys?" he asked again when he got no reply.

"Ryan…" said Kristen

"…Shut-up." finished Chad.

"Fine."

"One question." said Chad.

"Yes, Chad?" replied Kristen.

"How did you make Gabriella Prom Queen? Everyone knew it was going to be you." He asked.

"Yeah, how did you?" added Ryan, he had no idea either.

"Simple. Three blondes."

"Three blondes?" asked Ryan.

"Oh, you mean your bitches." said Chad, smiling that he got it.

Giving Chad an amused smirk, she turned to Ryan to answer.

"You know… what are there names? Tammie? Sam? I dunno, I don't bother. Anyways I told them to rig the votes. You know how desperate they are to get on my good side."

Realizing who she was talking about, he nodded his head.

"I have to admit, that's pretty clever McCall." said Chad.

"I try." She said jokingly.

Currently the three of them were spying on Gabriella and Troy. Chad managed to track down Kristen and Ryan and told them what he did.

Once the two blondes were out of shock the three of them went to go find Gabriella and Troy, only to find them in a heated lip lock. Quickly finding a place to hide, they watched wondering what would happen now.

"I still think we should give them privacy."

"Shut-up." this time both Kristen and Chad at the same time.

Putting his hands up in mock surrender, he gave up bothering to change their minds.

"Fine."

In fact Ryan couldn't help but be a little curious as well. Looking at the couple, he could see they were talking quietly; looking at each other with such intensity it kind of scared him.

It didn't feel right to be spying on them and he wasn't the only who felt that way as well. It felt like they were intruding on something private.

"You know what; I think your right Ryan. Let's leave them alone."

The three teenagers left the couple to give them time together. Ryan walking away in shock. Kristen wasn't the one who agreed with him but Chad.

* * *

_Graduation Day…_

"Hey babe." said a male voice.

"Babe?"

"What you don't like it? Cause if you-" Troy asked, concerned.

"No, I like it. It sounds… nice." she replied, smiling up at him.

Troy smiled in return.

"Just don't call me babe every second, that could get pretty annoying."

"Okay… babe."

She looked at him and saw an amused smirk on his face.

"Okay, now you're just doing that on purpose."

"Babe, I-"

"Troy!" she yelled, trying to scold him but it would take a lot more than that to stop him.

"Yes… babe?" he said, loving the way he had this effect on her.

She glared at him, trying hard to look like she was angry but failed miserably.

"That doesn't really work on me, you know."

"I know." she grumbled. _'Damn.' she thought._

"You look more cute than frightening." he said teasingly.

"I know. The price of looking good, I guess I'll just have to live with it." she sighed.

"Who's the arrogant one, now?" he said, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"I learn from the best." She grinned.

"Why thank you, I'm honoured."

Before Gabriella could come back with a comeback a voice interrupted.

"As much as this playful banter amuses me, we have to get going." said Taylor, with a grin on her face.

Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi eventually got use to the idea of Gabriella being with Troy and now supported her. Their friends were now okay with the two of them being together. Mind you, in the beginning not everyone was happy with the idea but their friends decided to put their differences aside for the sake of Troy and Gabriella. Their friends supported them and wanted them to be happy.

East High on the other hand, was a different story. Once the school found out, of course gossip ensued and Gabriella found herself in the middle of it once again.

But this time she didn't care. School was over; she didn't have to see all the people who disapproved of her anymore once she graduated. She decided to put up with the chaos. It helped that Troy and her friends and his friends had her and Troy's back. The petty gossip wasn't a threat to her, in fact she really didn't care about the people talking behind her back and insulting her. She figured that they were just jealous.

The couple, now holding hands, made their way to their group of friends consisting of Ryan, Kristen, Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi, Jason and Zeke. They decided to meet at Gabriella's house then drive down to the school together.

They weren't the best of friends… yet. But they didn't hate each other and that was all that mattered at the moment. They were learning to get along and breaking the status quo and that made Troy and Gabriella ecstatic.

They split up in their respective cars, everyone's parents meeting up with the teens later at school. Making their way to Troy's car- they decided to take his instead of Gabriella's-Troy whispered something in her ear.

"I think Chad is going to ask Taylor out."

"Really? Hmmm. Actually, they would look cute together."

Smiling, they two looked over and saw them bickering in front of Chad's car.

"Just like an old married couple." he muttered, just loud enough for Gabriella to hear.

Gabriella chuckled before she leaned in and whispered something in his ear.

"Ryan is finally going to ask Kristen out."

This time the couple looked over to the two blondes who were smiling at each other.

"About time. Jeez. He finally found the guts, huh?"

"Hey! That's my brother from another mother you're talking about." she said playfully, turning to face him.

Troy chuckled at how cute she sounded and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Sorry. I just don't think he has anything to be afraid of Kristen is obviously crazy for him."

"True, I guess your right."

"I am right." he said smirking, leaning against his car.

She rolled her eyes at Troy's playful smirk.

"Of course you are." she said sarcastically

"Of course I am." he replied, blatantly ignoring her sarcasm, knowing that it would bother her.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, I'm just kidding."

"I know." she said, now the one smirking triumphantly.

He just smiled back, reaching over to her.

"Come here." he said, pulling her into his arms.

Looking back, looking at everything went through she knew it was worth it cause in the end she got what she wanted. What she needed. Yes, she had to go through change, drama, and acceptance but in the end she got him and right now this- he- was what she needed.

After her unstable life of moving and the downhill life she led she never would have imagined that one day she would finally be content.

When life started to look good for her she didn't know what to do at first. So, on impulse she did something different (cheerleading) just to experience something different after the long four years of her having the same routine over and over again.

She experienced the drama of high school, first hand when she would usually just avoid it.

She learned how to let go and how to fight for what she wanted and who she was. She found herself and that was the most important thing.

Having found Troy was a bonus but he affected her life and changed it for the better and for that she was thankful. And now that she had him, she didn't plan on letting go anytime soon.

During her time at East High everything in her life changed, everything she expected, everything she assumed turned out to be the total opposite. Everything she went through made her stronger.

The fact she could call him hers made her heart flutter and the fact that he could do the same made her smile.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked once they were both inside the car.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" he asked, starting up the engine.

"Nothing." she repeated, smiling at him before leaning over to give him a kiss.

Pulling away, she laughed when he pulled her back for another kiss.

"Were going to be late." She whispered against his lips.

"Don't worry they can't start the ceremony without the Valedictorian."

"Troy… we have plenty of time for that later. I promise."

"No, please…" he pleaded, purposely pouting as she laughed at how silly he looked.

But looking at him pouting was enough for her to comply and he knew it.

Without waiting for her to reply, he pulled her in again kissing her softly, feeling him smirk when she softly sighed into him.

"East High can wait all day." she muttered which caused Troy to chuckle, pulling her even closer until she was in his lap. Causing her to straddle him. Causing him to laugh at her sudden boldness but he certainly didn't mind and continued to kiss her.

He was happy. Gabriella made him happy. She made him feel for her like no other girl had before. She meant _that _much to him but what made him happier was that she felt the same way.

She didn't know what would happen to them and that thought scared her. She hated not knowing.

'_But I know I can call him mine.' _She reasoned to herself, smiling as she put her hands through his hair and relaxed into his arms.

She didn't know what the future would hold for them but right now she was okay with having what they had right now.

Right now, she had him and he had her.

**THE END**


End file.
